Antibióticoterapia profilática

J Oral Maxillofac Surg 67:1467-1472, 2009

Evaluation of Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Reducing Postoperative Infection After Mandibular Third Molar Extraction in Young Patients
Giuseppe Monaco, DMD,* Loredana Tavernese, DMD,† Renato Agostini, BS,‡ and Claudio Marchetti, MD, DDS§
Purpose: This study evaluated the influence of antibiotic prophylaxis on postoperative complications

after inferior third molar removal in young patients. Patients and Methods: We extracted 59 mandibular third molars from 59 patients with a mean age of 15 years (range, 12-19 years). The patients were included in the study when radiographs at the time of surgery showed that only the crown of the tooth germ was formed. Patients were randomized into 2 groups, the test group and the control group. The test group received 2-g amoxicillin tablets 1 hour before surgery, and the control group received no antibiotic therapy. The test group included 32 patients, 20 of whom were female and 12 were male; the mean age was 15 years. The control group included 27 patients, 12 of whom were female and 15 were male; the mean age was 15 years. Postoperative complications such as pain, swelling, wound infection, and fever were recorded by use of a questionnaire completed by the patient for the week after the extraction. Suture removal and questionnaire evaluation were performed by a surgeon who did not know the preoperative regimen. Results: The mean operating time was 34 minutes in the control group and 31 minutes in the test group. This difference was not significant. In the test group there was a statistically significant reduction of postoperative pain in the 7 days after the extraction, and the patients had a consistent minor consumption of analgesics. Swelling was always present in the control and test groups in the postoperative week, but in the test group it was a minor sequela and was absent in 2 patients. Wound infection was a sequela reported in 4 patients in the control group and in 1 patient in