Prophylactic Antibiotics in Hip Fracture Surgery: A Randomized Prospective Study

IntroductionHip fracture surgeries constitute a large portion of orthopedic surgeries, and infective complications are one of the most severe and devastating sequels following fixations or replacements. Preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis is an important means to control SSI. Thus, we set out to assess the impact of a single dose versus three doses of antibiotics on surgical site infections in patients undergoing hip surgery.Materials and methodsA randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Department of Orthopaedics, The Indus Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. All patients admitted for hip fracture surgery who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled and divided into two groups. One group (Group A) was given a single dose of antibiotics preoperatively, and the other (Group B) was given three doses, one preoperatively and two postoperatively. Patients were assessed for wound condition and signs of infection. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. The chi-square test was applied to assess the significant association between both the groups and SSI. A significant statistical association was noted when the P value was found to be <0.05.ResultsThe study included 62 patients, with the majority of them being females (n=33; 53.2%). The mean age of the patients was 60.5 +/- 15.1 years. Only three (4.8%) patients developed SSI. No statistically significant association was detected between surgical site infections and the two antibiotic regimens being administered after controlling for the confounders.ConclusionThere was no statistical relationship between surgical site infections with a single dose versus three doses of antibiotics in patients undergoing hip surgery.