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Does Postoperative Antibiotic Administration Affffect the Infection Rate for Outpatient Orthopaedic Sports Procedures?

Abstract

Purpose: Perioperative antibiotic administration is a topic of debate, and a varied practice among orthopaedic surgeons. The objective of this study is to compare infection rates after outpatient sports procedures in patients treated with a single preoperative dose of antibiotics versus those given additional postoperative doses. Methods: This article shows a retrospective chart review of 961 patients undergoing orthopaedic sports medicine surgeries over a 2-year period. A control group of patients that only received preoperative antibiotics was compared to those with additional postoperative antibiotics in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) or at discharge (D/C). The primary outcome was the development of a postoperative superficial or deep infection. Results: The authors found no significant difference in the postoperative infection rate for patients given antibiotics postoperatively compared to the control group. Patients receiving no postoperative antibiotics had a deep infection rate of 2.0% (3/144) and superficial infection rate of 3.5% (5/144). Patients receiving postoperative antibiotics had a deep infection rate of 0.6% (5/817) (P = 0.10), and a superficial infection rate of 1.5% (12/817) (P = 0.16). There was no significant difference in developing deep infections (PACU only (P = 0.14) versus D/C only (P = 0.39)) or superficial infections (PACU only (P = 0.14) versus D/C only (P = 0.76)) in the setting of antibiotic administration. Conclusions: In this retrospective study of sports procedures, the data indicates that postoperative antibiotic administration did not result in decreased postoperative infections. However, given the low overall infection rate, a larger study with greater power is necessary to confirm findings.

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