No abstract

One thousand forty patients undergoing septal surgery of the nose were included in this 5-year study of no prophylactic antibiotics and no topical surgical preparation solution before surgery. Minor nasal infections developed in only five patients (0.48%) postoperatively. All five of these patients responded to oral antibiotic therapy and did not require hospitalization or intravenous antibiotic treatment. The incidence of infectious complications resulting from nasal surgery without the use of topical surgical preparation solution and without prophylactic antibiotics is minimal. No topical surgical preparation solution and no prophylactic antibiotic technique is a safe and acceptable approach for septoplasty and rhinoplasty surgery.

Despite the widespread use of prophylactic antibiotics in nasal surgery, the subject has been paid little attention in the literature. In a retrospective analysis of 210 patients who underwent septal surgery or a rhinoplasty, only 5 developed minor infections. Patients undergoing septal surgery or rhinoplasty (174) were evaluated in a randomized sequence, prospectively, to study the efficacy of systemic antibiotic prophylaxis. Only 4 patients developed minor infections; and 173 patients demonstrated no clinical nor radiographic evidence of subsequent sinusitis. The incidence of infectious complications resulting from intranasal surgery is not sufficient to warrant the use of prophylactic antibiotics. Furthermore, proof of their effectiveness in preventing such infections is lacking.

No abstract

No abstract