Premium
The Incidence of Clinical Infection After Periodontal Surgery: A Retrospective Study
Author(s) -
Pack Philip D.,
Haber Jerome
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.036
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1943-3670
pISSN - 0022-3492
DOI - 10.1902/jop.1983.54.7.441
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , antibiotics , antibiotic prophylaxis , medical record , retrospective cohort study , surgery , osteoplasty , periodontal surgery , dentistry , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , optics , biology
A large‐scale retrospective study was undertaken to determine the incidence of clinical infection after periodontal surgery and the effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotic therapy in preventing postoperative infection. All second‐year postgraduate students reviewed their patient records and completed a questionnaire. Eight infections were found in 884 operations performed without antibiotics, while one infection was found in 43 operations performed with antibiotics. Of 268 operations involving osseous surgery, six infections were noted while two infections were observed following 336 operations involving flap surgery without osteoplasty or ostectomy. The data indicated that the incidence of infection after periodontal surgery is very low in patients treated with or without antibiotics. It was concluded that unless there is a medical indication, there is no justification for using prophylactic antibiotic therapy to prevent infection following periodontal surgery.