Should patients undergoing outpatient total joint arthroplasty (TJA) receive additional postoperative prophylactic antibiotics?

Should patients undergoing outpatient total joint arthroplasty (TJA) receive additional postoperative prophylactic antibiotics?

Authors: Adolph J. Yates, Timothy L. Tan

RECOMMENDATION: Despite the current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advocating for a single dose of perioperative antibiotics, the studies utilized to form these guidelines are underpowered and primarily in specialties outside orthopaedics. The
limited evidence suggests that a single perioperative dose of antibiotics, compared to multiple doses, does not increase the rates of subsequent surgical site infections/periprosthetic joint infections (SSIs/PJIs). A randomized prospective study in patients undergoing elective arthroplasty is underway, which should help answer this question defi nitively.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Limited

DELEGATE VOTE: Agree: 94%, Disagree: 4%, Abstain: 2% (Super Majority, Strong Consensus)

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