Perioperative antibiotics prophylaxis for only 24 hours in orthopaedic surgeries

Background: The objective was to analyse the incidence of surgical site infection in patients undergoing elective orthopaedic surgeries procedure when antibiotics prophylaxis is done for 24 hours only. Methods: Between June 2020 and January 2022, 50 cases of orthopedic trauma as well as soft tissue surgeries, who were given perioperative antibiotics for only 24 hours post-surgery at our institution, were included in the study. All 50 patients who received 24 hours antibiotics only after surgery were compared with those who received the same for longer duration. Statistics calculated on MS excel. Results: Rate of infection in this study was 4% which is comparable to other studies but the rate of infection in the present study in cases of open reduction internal fixation was higher (12%) compared to other studies (2%). Conclusions: 24 hours antibiotics is sufficient in key hole surgeries like closed reduction internal fixation and soft tissue surgery. However, it does not seem to be sufficient in cases of open reduction internal fixation which last for more than 1.5 hours.