Meta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery

<p><strong>Background</strong> Simple hand trauma is very common, accounting for 1·8 million emergency department visits annually in the USA alone. Antibiotics are used widely as postinjury prophylaxis, but their efficacy is unclear. This meta-analysis assessed the effect of antibi...

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Main Authors: Murphy, GRF, Gardiner, MD, Glass, GE, Kreis, IA, Jain, A, Hettiaratchy, S
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016
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author Murphy, GRF
Gardiner, MD
Glass, GE
Kreis, IA
Jain, A
Hettiaratchy, S
author_facet Murphy, GRF
Gardiner, MD
Glass, GE
Kreis, IA
Jain, A
Hettiaratchy, S
author_sort Murphy, GRF
collection OXFORD
description <p><strong>Background</strong> Simple hand trauma is very common, accounting for 1·8 million emergency department visits annually in the USA alone. Antibiotics are used widely as postinjury prophylaxis, but their efficacy is unclear. This meta-analysis assessed the effect of antibiotic prophylaxis versus placebo or no treatment on wound infection rates in hand injuries managed surgically.</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong> Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Central, ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Portal were searched for published and unpublished studies in any language from inception to September 2015. The primary outcome was the effect of antibiotic prophylaxis on wound infection rates. Open fractures, crush injuries and bite wounds were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Data were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis, and risk ratios (RRs) and 95 per cent c.i. obtained.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong> Thirteen studies (2578 patients) were included, comprising five double-blind randomized clinical trials, five prospective trials and three cohort studies. There was no significant difference in infection rate between the antibiotic and placebo/no antibiotic groups (RR 0·89, 95 per cent c.i. 0·65 to 1·23; P = 0·49). Subgroup analysis of the five double-blind randomized clinical trials (864 patients) again found no difference in infection rates (RR 0·66, 0·36 to 1·21; P = 0·18).</p> <p><strong>Conclusion</strong> There was moderate-quality evidence that routine use of antibiotics does not reduce the infection rate in simple hand wounds that require surgery.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:16245222-1ea9-4833-83e0-604071f8ea472024-03-18T10:16:40ZMeta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgeryJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:16245222-1ea9-4833-83e0-604071f8ea47EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordWiley2016Murphy, GRFGardiner, MDGlass, GEKreis, IAJain, AHettiaratchy, S<p><strong>Background</strong> Simple hand trauma is very common, accounting for 1·8 million emergency department visits annually in the USA alone. Antibiotics are used widely as postinjury prophylaxis, but their efficacy is unclear. This meta-analysis assessed the effect of antibiotic prophylaxis versus placebo or no treatment on wound infection rates in hand injuries managed surgically.</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong> Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Central, ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Portal were searched for published and unpublished studies in any language from inception to September 2015. The primary outcome was the effect of antibiotic prophylaxis on wound infection rates. Open fractures, crush injuries and bite wounds were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Data were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis, and risk ratios (RRs) and 95 per cent c.i. obtained.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong> Thirteen studies (2578 patients) were included, comprising five double-blind randomized clinical trials, five prospective trials and three cohort studies. There was no significant difference in infection rate between the antibiotic and placebo/no antibiotic groups (RR 0·89, 95 per cent c.i. 0·65 to 1·23; P = 0·49). Subgroup analysis of the five double-blind randomized clinical trials (864 patients) again found no difference in infection rates (RR 0·66, 0·36 to 1·21; P = 0·18).</p> <p><strong>Conclusion</strong> There was moderate-quality evidence that routine use of antibiotics does not reduce the infection rate in simple hand wounds that require surgery.</p>
spellingShingle Murphy, GRF
Gardiner, MD
Glass, GE
Kreis, IA
Jain, A
Hettiaratchy, S
Meta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery
title Meta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery
title_full Meta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery
title_fullStr Meta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery
title_full_unstemmed Meta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery
title_short Meta-analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery
title_sort meta analysis of antibiotics for simple hand injuries requiring surgery
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