Closed hip and long bone fractures

Summary

A metaanalysis of 22 randomized controlled trials found evidence to support parenteral antibiotic prophylaxis regimens for patients undergoing surgical fixation of closed hip
and long bone fractures. Preoperative parenteral antibiotic doses (single or combined with multiple postoperative doses) resulted in decreased risk of deep, superficial, and urinary tract infections compared with no antibiotic. Single doses of short acting agents may be less effective than multiple doses of the same agent in decreasing the risk of any of the infections evaluated. By contrast, there was no significant difference in infection risk between a single dose of a long acting agent and multiple doses of other agents with shorter half lives. No significant differences were found when multiple dose regimens were compared or when administration routes (oral versus parenteral) were compared.