JSOA Online

Treating patients with antibiotics that are selected based on routine cultures obtained from presumed aseptic orthopaedic procedures may lead to an increased risk of antibiotic-related complications without reducing the rate of late deep infection. Routine cultures obtained from 60 of 169 procedures resulted in 23 (38.3%) positive and 37 (61.7%) negative results. Twenty-two patients (13.5%) developed late infections. Seven of 14 patients with positive cultures, who were treated with antibiotics, developed a late infection, while two of nine patients with routine cultures, who received no antibiotic treatment, developed a late infection. Six of 37 patients with negative cultures and seven of 109 patients with no cultures developed a late infection. In patients who developed late deep infection, the microorganism isolated on routine culture only corresponded to the microorganism causing late infection 55.5% of the time. Of all patients treated with antibiotics, seven (29%) experienced an antibiotic-related complication (p D .01). (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 26(4):239–245, 2017) Key words: antibiotic-related complications, aseptic, orthopaedic procedures, routine cultures