Researchers examined patients who underwent cardiac, total joint replacement, colorectal and vascular procedures within the national Veterans Affairs health system. They included 79,058 patients who received a manual review by a nurse reviewer for type and duration of preventive treatment, including postoperative antibiotic treatment, and for surgical site infections from Oct. 1, 2008, to Sept. 30, 2013.
After adjusting for certain factors, researchers found that surgical site infection was not associated with duration of antibiotic therapy. However, adjusted odds of acute kidney injury increased with each day of antibiotic treatment. Receiving vancomycin, in particular, increased risk of acute kidney injury.
Similarly, the risk of postoperative C. diff infection increased with each day of antibiotic therapy.
“These findings highlight the notion that every day matters and suggest that stewardship efforts to limit duration of prophylaxis have the potential to reduce adverse events without increasing SSI,” study authors concluded.
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