[Cost effectiveness of preventive antibiotic administration for lowering risk of infection by 0.25%]

Antibiotic prophylaxis in closed fractures is cost-effective if the risk of a deep infection is reduced by 0.25%. This control study was undertaken to assess the cost-effectiveness of prophylaxis of postoperative infections after surgical treatment of closed fractures. The costs for 16 patients with infections (8 with deep infections, 8 with superficial infections) were investigated and compared with the costs for 16 similar but non-infected patients with special reference to length of hospital stay, antibiotics and surgery. The data were collected from the trauma department of the University Hospital of the Free University in Amsterdam. Costs in the group of 8 patients with superficial wound infection were not substantially higher than those for their non-infected controls. The occurrence of a deep infection meant costs an average of DFL 35,224 higher than an uneventful postoperative course. On the basis of these results, antibiotic prophylaxis of postoperative wound infections is cost-effective if it reduces the risk of deep wound infections by about 0.25%.