Authors: Joseph J. King, Brent Morris, Anne Lachiewicz
RECOMMENDATION: For primary shoulder arthroplasty, prophylactic intravenous (IV) antibiotics should be given within one hour prior to incision to decrease the risk of infection. Intravenous antibiotics may be continued for 24 hours postoperatively. For revision shoulder arthroplasty, intravenous antibiotics should be given within one hour prior to incision. While controversial, the current evidence suggests that prophylactic antibiotics should not be routinely held until tissue for culture is obtained (see Section 2.5. Diagnosis: Sampling, Question 7). Intravenous antibiotics should only be continued for 24 hours postoperatively, unless there is a concern for periprosthetic infection. Antibiotics can be continued up
until fi nal culture results are obtained in revision cases if there is some suspicion of infection while awaiting the final culture results.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Moderate
DELEGATE VOTE: Agree: 100%, Disagree: 0%, Abstain:0% (Unanimous, Strongest Consensus)
