New criteria approved for antibiotic use in TJA patients undergoing dental procedures

The board of directors for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recently approved new criteria that specify when it may be appropriate to consider antibiotic administration prior to various dental procedures to prevent in infection in patients with orthopedic replacement joints or implants.

The Appropriate Use Criteria for the Management of Patients with Orthopaedic Implants Undergoing Dental Procedures, which is available through the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) OrthoGuidelines website and app, includes questions for clinicians to gauge risk related to the type of dental procedure, given the patient’s implant status and overall health, according to a press release. A 14-member voting panel of orthopedic surgeons, dentists, oral surgeons and epidemiologists determined 64 scenarios with an antibiotic appropriateness rating from one to nine, the release noted. The release added that antibiotic use is deemed appropriate and may improve health outcomes or survival in patients who score a rating from seven to nine, while antibiotics may be appropriate for patients who score from four to six and are rarely appropriate for patients who score from one to three. For scenarios in which antibiotic treatment is recommended, the release noted the appropriate use criteria provides specific antibiotics and dosage.

“These guidelines will hopefully help to decrease antibiotic use in patients with artificial joints, but still provide reasonable scenarios when they might be considered,” Robert H. Quinn, appropriate use criteria section leader of the AAOS Committee on Evidence-Based Quality and Value, said in the release.

Reference:

http://newsroom.aaos.org/media-resources/news/dental-antibiotics-jointimplants-orthopaedics.htm