A review of the literature: antibiotic usage and its relevance to the infection in periodontal flaps

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the systemic antibiotic usage in the perioperative period of periodontal flaps and its relevance to the infection after surgeries through reviewing the papers of the last decade.

Materials and methods: A search was conducted for the studies of randomized clinical trials between 2005 and 2014 that reported periodontal flaps in chronic periodontitis patients. Data were extracted and the rate of the systemic antibiotic use, the infection rate after surgeries and the number needed to treat (NNT) to prevent one infected case were calculated. The impact of antibiotic use and materials used in surgeries on the infection was evaluated.

Results: Eighty-three trials were included. Antibiotics were used in 73.7% of the patients and 75.4% of the flaps. Infection occurred in only five flaps where enamel matrix proteins (EMD) or EMD + bone grafts were used in intrabony defects. Only 0.170% of the surgeries got infected in total. When all kinds of surgeries were included for analysis, the infection rate was 0.073% for the surgeries using antibiotics, which was lower than the infection rate 0.693% for the surgeries not using antibiotics (p < .05). The infection rate was very low in general. NNT was 203 when all the surgeries were included for analysis. Therefore, the difference of the infection rates between using antibiotics and not might lack clinical significance.

Conclusions: Considering the very low incidence of the infection and the disadvantages of the systemic antibiotic use, we suggest not using systemic antibiotics in the perioperative period of periodontal flaps to prevent infection.

Keywords:

• Anti-bacterial agents
• infection
• periodontal disease
• surgery

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Notes on contributors

Yiying Liu, Yuejiao Xin and Lin Bai are graduate students, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Dingyu Duan, DDS, PhD, is a doctor in Department of Periodontology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Tianyu Li and Chuwen Li are undergraduates, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Yi Xu, DDS, PhD, is a professor of Department of Periodontology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by the Foundation 2015SZ0137 from Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province.