Pre-Operative Antibiotic Agents for Facial Fractures: Is More than One Day Necessary?

Background: Despite a paucity of evidence, patients with facial fractures often receive long courses of pre-operative antibiotic agents. This study compared the effect of a short versus long pre-operative antibiotic course on the development of post-operative head/neck infections in this population. Patients and Methods: All adult patients admitted between January 2010 and May 2015 to a level 1 trauma center with isolated head/neck injuries who underwent surgery for facial fracture(s) were included. Patients with infections prior to surgery were excluded. Our primary analysis compared head/neck infections between patients given a short (≤24 hours) versus long (>24 hours) course of pre-operative antibiotic agents. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression (MLR) were performed to identify risk factors for head/neck infections. Results: This study included 188 patients; median age was 38.5 years, 83% were male, 81% had blunt injuries, 51.6% had fractures in multiple facial thirds, and 48.9% required intensive care unit (ICU) admission. One hundred twenty-five (66.5%) patients received a short course and 63 (33.5%) received a long course of pre-operative antibiotic agents. Head/neck infections were higher in the long course group (28.6% vs 15.2%; p = 0.034), but median days to infection were similar. Factors associated with head/neck infections included penetrating injury, mandible fracture, involvement of multiple facial thirds, ICU admission, operative time, and receiving a long pre-operative antibiotic course. Multivariable logistic regression found mandible fracture (odds ratio [OR], 2.9; p = 0.01) and ICU admission (OR, 3.3; p = 0.003) to be independent predictors of head/neck infections (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.706), but pre-operative antibiotic course was not. Patients with isolated mandible fractures (n = 42) had higher rates of head/neck infections in the long course group (29.4% vs 4.0%; p = 0.032), despite similar demographics. Conclusion: Long (>24 hours) course of continuous pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis before surgery for facial fractures did not reduce the development of head/neck infections.