11. Prophylactic use of local vancomycin does not decrease acute surgical site infection in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Perioperative surgical site infections for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis after posterior spinal fusion range from 0.3-1.6%. Morbidities associated with infections include hospital readmissions, reoperations, and long-term antibiotic use. Prophylactic and local administration of vancomycin powder into the wound has been shown to decrease rates of surgical site infections among the adult population, and many pediatric deformity surgeons have adopted its use in an effort to decrease infections in the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis population.

Source: The Spine Journal - August 11, 2021 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Stephen Stephan, De-An Zhang, Marilan Luong, Robert Cho, Selina Poon Source Type: research