Purpose: Post operation infection after septoplasty is very rare, possibly due to excessive nasal blood supply. Most otorhinolaryngologists recommend antibiotics after septoplasty; however, controversial results were available. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of antibiotics after septoplasty.
Methods: In this study, 90 patients who were candidates for septoplasty were entered the study and divided into three groups. The first group did not receive any oral antibiotics after septoplasty. The second group took 500 mg of oral cephalexin. The third group, for whom splints were used, also received cephalexin. The culture of the nasal mucosa was prepared before and two weeks after surgery and compared between groups. Then, the amount and types of mucosa microorganisms were reported. Data were analyzed using SPSS16.
Results: The growth significantly increased in the first group (p = 0.051) and reduced in the second group (p < 0.001). While a decreased growth rate was observed in the third group, it was not statistically significant (p = 0.12).
Conclusion: The present study highlighted the beneficial role of prophylactic antibiotics administration in patients without splints on bacterial growth, while it had no effect in patients with splints.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03665-w.
Keywords: Antibiotic; Bacterial growth; Post-operation infection; Prophylaxis; Septoplasty; Splints.
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