Antibiotic prophylaxis for bilateral sagittal split osteotomies: a randomized, double-blind clinical study

The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of one dose and a short course (3 doses) of amoxycillin therapy for the prevention of infection following bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO). Patients who qualified for the trial were randomly divided into two groups: group I patients were given a single injection of amoxycillin 1.0 g administered preoperatively followed by two postoperative doses of saline four hourly (single dose group); group II patients were given single injection amoxycillin 1.0 g administered preoperatively followed by two postoperative doses of amoxycillin 0.5 g four hourly. The 60 patients included in this study were divided into two groups of 30. The patients were evaluated for 2 months for postoperative infections. In the postoperative period, six patients required rescue antibiotics in the single dose group and one in the short course group (P = 0.04). There was a statistical difference in the rates of infection between the two groups (P = 0.04). The findings indicate that a short postoperative course of antibiotics is more effective than a single preoperative dose for the prevention of infection following BSSO.