A systematic review of latest evidence for antibiotic prophylaxis and therapy in oral and maxillofacial surgery

Purpose: Especially in oral and maxillofacial surgery, where procedures involving the aero-digestive tract considered clean contaminated, surgical site infections (SSI) represent a severe health care burden. To improve implementation and methodological standard, an upgrade of the existing S1 guideline to a consensus-guided S3 guideline was initiated by the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften e.V., AWMF, register number 067/009) and 25 collaborating medical societies.

Methods: A systematic literature search based on the Scottish Intercollegiate GL Network (SIGN)-search string for the guideline "Antibiotic prophylaxis in surgery" from 2014 was performed and equivalent exclusion/inclusion criteria were applied. An additional hand search provided latest evidence.

Results: In total, 80 clinical trials, retrospective studies, reviews, and meta-analysis were analyzed. For orthognathic surgery, prolonged antibiotic regimen may reduce risk for SSI but there is lack of evidence for the effects of short- vs. long-term therapy. For maxillofacial traumatology, antibiotic prophylaxis might reduce SSI but prolonged postoperative dosing shows no benefit. For clean-contaminated oncological interventions, anti-infectious therapy for 24 h only can reduce SSI; patients may not benefit from prolonged regimen. In contrast, for dentoalveolar procedures such as implantology or third molar removal, literature reveals ambivalent results.

Conclusion: In summary, consensus process of the planned S3 guideline is much in need to transfer the indecisive results for antibiotic prophylaxis in dentoalveolar surgery in clinical praxis and encourage adherence to guidelines.