Is there a role for prolonged post-operative antibiotic use in primary total hip arthroplasty in the African setting?

Any surgery is associated with a risk of post-operative surgical site infection (SSI). Various measures have been put in place to mitigate this risk. With modern surgical techniques and the use of prophylactic antibiotics, the risk of post-operative SSIs is as low as 2%.1-3 Various American and European protocols advocate the initiation of prophylactic antibiotics within one hour of the incision and continued up to 24 hours after the end of the operation.4-6 Abstract