The Use of Prophylactic Penicillin in Orthopedic Surgery: A Clinical Trial

Abstract

Thirty dogs presented for open surgical repair of fractures were treated with prophylactic penicillin. Thirty other dogs with fractures were not given antibiotics. Each animal was monitored by clinical signs and deep aspiration culture, and followed for 6 months or until the fracture had healed and the implants had been removed.No statistically significant difference was found in the number of clinical infections or positive bacterial cultures for each group. Differences in results between categories, such as type of injury, implants used, and surgeon, also were not statistically significant.