Prescription of antibiotics: does it alter the outcome for patients who have fractures of the angle of the mandible?

We retrospectively studied 708 consecutive patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, to find out whether one of the four antibiotic protocols in use conferred any advantage (or disadvantage) on a patient who had a fractured angle of the mandible, and there was none. However, the time from initial injury until the time of the first dose of antibiotic was important. Clinically, if patients waited more than 72hours after the injury before the first dose of antibiotic was given, they had a three times higher rate of postoperative infection than patients who were given their first dose between 24 and 72hours after the injury. Morbidity was more than five times higher during the postoperative period if the patient had waited for three days before their first dose, compared with those given the first dose within eight hours of injury. The overall rate of malunion or non-union of the fracture was between five and 10 times higher if the patient had waited more than 72hours after injury compared with all the other groups. There was a considerable difference in cost between the intravenous and oral versions of the antibiotics used (Augmentin® and metronidazole) so, if it could be shown that the oral doses are as efficacious as intravenous doses, a great deal of money could be saved.