Evaluation of Intravenous Administration of Anti-Infective Agents and Documentation Quality in Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery: A Quantitative Study on Discrepancies Between Physician Prescriptions and Nursing Records

Background: Intravenous anti-infectives are an important part of postoperative care, but discrepancies between prescribed and documented administrations remain widespread and require systematic evaluation. Methods: In an exploratory study, prescribed and documented intravenous anti-infective administrations were retrospectively analyzed using patient charts, digital nursing reports and, in cases of deviations, consultations with the responsible staff. The discrepancies were classified into three categories: (I) documentation, (II) administration, and (III) a combination of both. The relationship between discrepancies and dosing interval, time of administration (weekday and shift assignment), and intravenous administration route was statistically analyzed (Χ2 test, residual analysis). Results: Of 5016 anti-infective administrations in 219 patients, 1135 (22.6%) had at least one discrepancy, of which 68.2% (774 of 1135) belonged to category I. Significant differences in the frequency of discrepancies between surgical wards and the dosing intervals were observed. On weekdays, 23.6% of drug administrations (832 of 3519) showed discrepancies compared to 20.2% on weekends (303 of 1497, OR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.05–1.42, p = 0.008). Although the early shift had the lowest administration rate, it showed significantly more discrepancies than expected (313.6 expected vs. 553 observed; adjusted standardized residual +18.1; p < 0.001). Drug administration via the peripheral venous route was more susceptible to discrepancies than the central venous administration route (23.2% [963 of 4149] vs. 19.8% [172 of 867]), OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.01–1.38; p = 0.031). Conclusions: Approximately a quarter of anti-infective administrations were affected by discrepancies, predominantly in category I, with the highest incidences occurring during the early shift and on weekdays. This requires a multi-step improvement program.