Prophylactic antibiotics and wound infections following laminectomy for lumber disc herniation

The authors review 531 consecutive operations for lumbar disc herniation performed on 496 patients by one neurosurgeon to determine the effect of prophylactic antibiotics upon postoperative wound infections. In this retrospective analysis 16 instances of sepsis were found, 11 considered to be major and five minor. In the 128 cases in which no antibacterial agents were given, 11 major and 1 minor infection occurred. Four minor infections developed in the 402 occasions when antibiotics were given in the perioperative period. Men had a significantly greater risk of developing infection than women. These data suggest that pre- and postoperative antibiotic therapy directed at a narrow spectrum of microorganisms reduced the incidence of significant wound infections in patients undergoing laminectomy for lumbar disc herniation.