Extended Postoperative Prophylactic Antibiotics for Primary and Aseptic Revision Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review

Extended Post-Operative Antibiotic Usage Does Not Reduce Surgical Site Infections after Spinal Surgery

Background: Currently there is not a clear basis of evidence for post-operative antibiotic duration in spine surgery. A better understanding of risk factors and proper dosing for antibiotics will help improve outcomes and further define appropriate antibiotic use. Patients and Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort study of all patients undergoing spinal fusions and/or decompressions between January 1, 2018, and July 1, 2023 was performed. Patient demographic data and surgical information were collected. The exposure variable assessed was the duration of post-operative antibiotic administration. The primary outcome was incidence of surgical site infections (SSI). Uni-variable and multi-variable analysis were used to determine risk factors for infection. Results: A total of 5,656 procedures were performed by 25 different orthopedic spine- or neurosurgery-trained surgeons. The incidence of SSI was similar between the ≤24 h of antibiotic group and the >24 h antibiotic group, 0.50% and 0.45%, respectively (p = 0.769). In multi-variable analysis, only a body mass index (BMI) over 30 was associated with increased risk for SSI (odds ratio 2.54 [1.12, 5.74]). Conclusion: We observed no significant difference in the incidence of SSI among patients who were administered ≤24 h of post-operative antibiotics compared with those who we administered >24 h post-operative antibiotics. A BMI ≥30 was a risk factor for SSI in both uni-variable and multi-variable analysis.

Extended Prophylactic Antibiotics for Primary and Aseptic Revision Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

There is growing interest in extended antibiotic prophylaxis (EAP) following total joint arthroplasty (TJA); however, the benefit of EAP remains controversial. For this investigation, both oral and intravenous antibiotic protocols were included in the EAP group.

METHODS

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Ovid Embase, Elton B. Stephens CO, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were queried for literature comparing outcomes of primary and aseptic revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients who were treated with either ≤24 hours of postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis (standard of care [SoC]) or >24 hours of EAP. The primary outcome was periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). A pooled relative-risk random-effects Mantel-Haenszel model was implemented to compare cohorts.

RESULTS

There were 18 studies with a total of 19,153 patients included. There was considerable variation in antibiotic prophylaxis protocols with first-generation cephalosporins being the most commonly implemented antibiotic for both groups. Patients treated with EAP were 35% less likely to develop PJI relative to the SoC (P = .0004). When examining primary TJA, patients treated with EAP were 39% and 40% less likely to develop a PJI for TJA (P = .0008) and THA (P = .02), respectively. There was no significant difference for primary TKA (P = .17). When examining aseptic revision TJA, EAP led to a 36% and 47% reduction in the probability of a PJI for aseptic revision TJA (P = .007) and aseptic revision TKA (P = .008), respectively; there was no observed benefit for aseptic revision THA (P = .36).

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis demonstrated that patients treated with EAP were less likely to develop a PJI relative to those treated with the SoC for all TJA, primary TJA, primary THA, aseptic revision TJA, and aseptic revision TKA. There was no significant difference observed between EAP and SoC for primary TKA or aseptic revision THA.