RESEARCH ARTICLE
Current Concepts of Prophylactic Antibiotics in Trauma: A Review
Jennifer CE Lane§, 1, Nigel Tapiwa Mabvuure§, 2, Sandip Hindocha*, 3, Wasim Khan 4
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
Issue: Suppl 3
First Page: 511
Last Page: 517
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-6-511
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001206010511
Article History:
Received Date: 6/7/2012Revision Received Date: 9/9/2012
Acceptance Date: 16/9/2012
Electronic publication date: 30/11/2012
Collection year: 2012

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Traumatic injuries cause 5.8 million deaths per year globally. Before the advent of antibiotics, sepsis was considered almost inevitable after injury. Today infection continues to be a common complication after traumatic injury and is associated with increases in morbidity and mortality and longer hospital stays. Research into the prevention of post-traumatic infection has predominantly focused on thoracic and abdominal injuries. In addition, because research on sepsis following musculoskeletal injuries has predominantly been on open fractures. There is a paucity of research into the prevention of soft tissue infections following traumatic injuries. This review analyses the evidence for the role of prophylactic antibiotics in the management of soft tissue injuries. Emphasis is placed on assessing the strength of the presented evidence according to the Oxford Level of Evidence scale.