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. 2022 Dec;74(Suppl 3):5769-5772.
doi: 10.1007/s12070-021-02393-3. Epub 2021 Jan 22.

Is Prophylactic Antibiotic Therapy Needed in Thyroidectomy?

Vinay V Rao  1 , Caren D'Souza  2
Affiliations

Is Prophylactic Antibiotic Therapy Needed in Thyroidectomy?

Vinay V Rao et al. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Antibiotics have been traditionally prescribed for any open head and neck surgery. With classification of wound and wound contamination and various published guidelines the practice is still widely prevalent. Thyroidectomy being a clean surgery does not warrant the use of antibiotics at all. We performed an interventional prospective study to see the occurrence of wound infection in patients who received antibiotic prophylaxis as compared to those who did not. A total of 71 patients were recruited in the study who were randomly divided into two groups, one received antibiotic prophylaxis and other did not. Both the groups did not show any marked change in the incidence of wound infection hence highlighting the unnecessary use of prophylactic antibiotics in thyroid surgeries.

Keywords: Antibiotic prophylaxis; Thyroidectomy; Wound infection.

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