Do Post-injury Prophylactic Antibiotics Reduce Infection for Isolated Midface Fractures: A Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: Fractures of the midface are a core component to the practice of contemporary oral and maxillofacial trainees and surgeons. As such, in an era where antibiotic resistance is increasing it is important to investigate if antibiotics are required after midface fractures to prevent infections before follow-up in an outpatient setting. The purpose of this study is to determine whether postinjury prophylactic preoperative antibiotics reduce rates of infection after midface fracture. METHODS: A retrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted in Queensland, Australia. Patients who presented to Royal Brisbane Hospital and Townsville Hospital with isolated midface fractures between January 2017 and January 2019 were included. Clinical and demographic data of patients who received postinjury prophylactic antibiotics were compared to those who did not using the χ2 test. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with increased odds of postinjury prophylactic antibiotic prescription. RESULTS: In total, 1,353 patients with midfacial fractures over the 2-year period were included. In addition, 724 (53.5%) patients received postinjury antibiotics and 629 (46.5%) patients did not. The overall rate of infection was very low: 1 patient who received postinjury prophylactic antibiotics (0.1%) developed infection compared to 2 patients (0.3%) who did not receive postinjury prophylactic antibiotics, and this difference was not significant (χ2 = 0.49; P = .48). Male sex (odds ratio 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.7; P = .02) and tobacco use (odds ratio 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.7; P = .008) were associated with an increased odds of postinjury prophylactic antibiotic prescription in the univariate analyses, but were no longer significant once site, age, and fracture type were adjusted for in the multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of infection after midface fracture was low and there was no significant difference in infection rates for patients who received postinjury prophylactic antibiotics compared to those who did not. Use of postinjury prophylactic preoperative antibiotics for midfacial fractures should be reconsidered.

Ophthalmological injuries associated with fractures of the orbitozygomaticomaxillary complex.

Our aim was to evaluate ophthalmological injuries associated with fractures of the orbitozygomaticomaxillary complex that required operative treatment, and we collected data retrospectively over a period of five years (2012-2016 inclusive). Of the 190 patients, 162 were male with a median age of 31 (IQR 25 -39) years. Assault was the most common mechanism of injury (125/190, 66%). Minor ophthalmic injuries (those unlikely to cause permanent visual disturbance) and major ophthalmic injuries (those with the potential to cause permanent visual disturbance) were recorded. The common minor ophthalmic injuries were: diplopia, enophthalmos, proptosis, subconjunctival haemorrhage, and restriction of the extraocular muscles. Commotio retinae, traumatic mydriasis, retro-orbital haemorrhage, and hyphaema were the common major ophthalmic injuries. All 13 different major ophthalmic injuries were recorded in the group who had had orbital fractures reconstructed, which suggested that more intraocular damage can be caused by this type of fracture than by others. Visual acuity was reduced in 26/190 patients with only four having persistent postoperative changes at six weeks. The odds ratio for those patients who had a major ophthalmological injury and were unable to drive was 0.07 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.21, p=0.001), which was highly significant. Ophthalmological assessment is strongly recommended for patients with fractures of the orbitozygomaticomaxillary complex.