Effect of the prophylactic use of antibiotics on wound infection after cleft lip surgery.

Objectives: To study the effect of preoperative prophylactic use of antibiotics on wound infection in patients with cleft lip.

Methods: Aretrospective study was conducted on the clinical data of 1 361 patients who underwent one-stage cleft lip repair in the Department of Cleft Lip and Palate in West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, from January 2015 to November 2018. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether prophylactic antibiotics were used or not. There were 594 patients in the prevention group, including 373 unilateral incomplete cleft lip (UICL) patients, 157 unilateral complete cleft lip (UCCL) patients, 25 bilateral incomplete cleft lip (BICL) patients, 39 bilateral complete cleft lip (BCCL) patients. There were 767 patients in the non-prophylactic group, including 482 UICL patients, 211 UCCL patients, 31 BICL patients, 43 BCCL patients. The relationship between preoperative and postoperative leukocyte count, preoperative and postoperative body temperature, and postoperative wound infection were compared between the two groups.

Results: No significant difference was observed in the leukocyte count and body temperature between both groups (P>0.05).

Conclusions: The preoperative prophylactic use of antibiotics has no significant effect on the incidence of postoperative infection in patients undergoing cleft lip repair.