Single-dose versus single-day antibiotic prophylaxis for orthognathic surgery: a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prophylactic value of single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis on postoperative infection in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery, compared to single-day antibiotics.

One hundred fifty patients were included in the study; 57 males and 93 females were divided into 2 groups with 75 in each group. Group 1 received a single dose of antibiotic prophylaxis and group 2 received a single day of antibiotic prophylaxis. These patients were assessed for rates of infection postoperatively after orthognathic surgery.

Seven patients (9.3%) in group 1 developed infection, whereas 2 patients (2.6%) in group 2 developed infection. The difference in rates of infection in both groups was of interest but not statistically significant (P > .05).

The results from the present study show that there is a clinically significant difference, but no statistically significant difference, between single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis and single-day antibiotic prophylaxis in reducing the rates of infection in orthognathic procedures. We recommend further studies with a larger sample size to determine whether there truly is no statistical difference between both groups.