An investigation of bacteremia during rhinoplasty.

The rarity of infection after rhinoplasty is not well understood. Despite the apparent low incidence of this complication, many surgeons administered perioperative antibiotics to prevent infection. We studied whether a bacteremia composed of nasal flora can originate during rhinoplasty. Fifty-two health patients admitted for rhinoplasty were studied. Blood and nasal cultures were drawn immediately before operation and blood cultures 5 and 15 minutes after completion of the nasal osteotomies. With the exception of one instance of likely contamination, none of the blood cultures grew microorganisms. Neither local nor systemic infections occurred in any patient. The negative results of this study suggest an exceedingly low incidence of bacteremia during rhinoplasty. For this reason, the value of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis is questionable.