Postoperative cephazolin usage is sufficient for preventing infection after septoplasty procedure

The use of antibiotics in septoplasty is a common practice among most ear, nose, and throat doctors; however, there are few studies proving the efficacy, which is considered as unnecessary by some authors. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of two different kinds of antimicrobial agent on efficacy and safety after septoplasty surgery and to show that use of cephazolin, 1.0 g, postoperatively, might be sufficient for preventing infection after septoplasty procedure. Patients were randomly divided into two groups with a simple randomization method. The first group of 80 patients received cephazolin, 1.0 g i.v., once postoperatively and the second group of 80 patients received amoxicillin-clavulanate orally for 7 days postoperatively (1000 mg). An early and late postoperative questionnaire and nasal endoscopy evaluation was performed and patients were followed up in the outpatient service to investigate the presence of complications. There was no significant difference in postoperative pain between groups A and B, using visual analog scale scores at the 1st postoperative day. There were no differences related to the amount of purulent discharge found at the lower margin of the inferior turbinate through nasal endoscopy performed on the 14th day postoperatively. There were no statistical significances among groups for complications rates and postoperative endoscopic evaluation. Septoplasties are considered potentially contaminated surgeries, and cephazolin, 1.0 g i.v., given once postoperatively is enough to prevent potential complications with its easy and effective use.