Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Antibiotics during and after surgery do not cut infection risk
By Aiken, Miranda J et al.·Published in Veterinary surgery : VS·2015·Anderson Abercromby Veterinary Referrals, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prospective, Randomized Comparison of the Effect of Two Antimicrobial Regimes on Surgical Site Infection Rate in Dogs Undergoing Orthopedic Implant Surgery.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 400 dogs undergoing orthopedic surgery with metal implants to see if giving antibiotics after surgery would help prevent infections. Half of the dogs received antibiotics only during the surgery, while the other half continued antibiotics for five days afterward. The results showed that the infection rates were similar in both groups, with about 5% of the first group and about 3.5% of the second group developing infections within six weeks. This suggests that just giving antibiotics during surgery may be enough to prevent infections in these cases.
People also search for: dog surgery infection prevention · orthopedic surgery antibiotics for dogs · dog surgical site infection treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether extending prophylactic antimicrobial administration into the postoperative period would decrease the surgical site infection (SSI) rate in clean canine orthopedic surgery associated with a metal implant. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized prospective clinical study. SAMPLE POPULATION: Consecutive procedures (n = 400) on dogs that had clean orthopedic surgery using a metal implant. METHODS: Cases were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 groups. Group 1 was only administered perioperative antimicrobial drugs whereas group 2 was administered perioperative and 5 days of postoperative antimicrobial therapy. Owners were questioned or dogs were examined at 2 and 6 weeks after surgery to identify any SSI. Long term follow-up by questionnaire of the referring veterinary surgeon ≥1 year after surgery was obtained. RESULTS: Ten of 191 dogs (5.24%) in group 1 developed SSI within 6 weeks compared with 7 of 198 (3.54%) in group 2; 7.22% of dogs in group 1 and 8.24% in group 2 developed infections more than 6 weeks after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: SSI rates in this population of dogs were similar where antimicrobial prophylaxis was administered perioperatively over 3 hours or as a course continued for 6 days.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25780942/