The burden of hand trauma surgery on primary care in the United Kingdom: a nation-wide analysis of antibiotic and opioid prescriptions

Although surgical site infection (SSI) risk after hand trauma surgery is around 5%, the severity of these infections is not known. The risk of superficial SSI in a cohort study was evaluated using NHS UK-wide primary care records (<i>n</i> = 641,223), using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD database. Within this cohort, a subcohort of those who had undergone a hand surgery operation for trauma were identified (<i>n</i> = 3,088). Antibiotic and analgesic prescriptions were analysed at 30 and 90 days postoperatively. By 30 days, 6.2% had been prescribed antibiotics appropriate for SSI, rising to 14.4% (CI [13.2 to 15.8]) by 90 days. By 30 days, 10% had been prescribed opioid analgaesia and by 90 days this had increased to 13.8%. Antibiotics prescriptions for SSI in primary care are substantially higher than the NICE estimate for SSI overall and the expected risk in hand trauma. The implications of this study are that many patients are receiving treatment for SSI in primary care and may be in more pain, for longer, than we expect. Further exploration of this is warranted and future research in hand trauma surgery should capture adverse events occurring outside of the hospital environment.<b>Level of evidence:</b> II.