Impact of Antibiotic Choice at the Time of Sacral Neuromodulation Implantation on Rates of Surgical Site Infection.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of specific antibiotic regimens in preventing infection following sacral neuromodulation.

Materials and methods: This is a retrospective cohort study utilizing the Premier Healthcare Database. Patients who underwent sacral neuromodulation placement between January 2016 and March 2020. The patients were grouped by those who received dual antibiotic therapy per 2019 AUA guidelines (Gram positive + broad Gram negative coverage), first- or second-generation cephalosporins or any other regimen. Comparison between groups was performed using Kruskal-Wallis and χ² tests for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Inverse probability of treatment weighted (IPTW) analysis was used to estimate the average treatment effect of AUA guidelines regimens versus the use the first- or second-generation cephalosporins alone.

Results: The sample included 14 179 patients, with 2211 patients receiving prophylaxis that followed the AUA guideline recommendations. There was no significant difference in surgical site infection rates within 3 months (p = 0.28) or within 12 months (p = 0.53) between the groups. On IPTW, the probability of an infection at 3 months was lower with the AUA guideline regimens compared to those who received first- or second-generation cephalosporins alone, but this difference was not statistically significant (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: [0.43, 1.24]).

Conclusions: In the absence of allergies to cephalosporins or penicillin, first- or second-generation cephalosporins alone may be a sufficient preoperative antibiotic regimen for prevention of infection at the time of sacral neuromodulation.

Trial registration: Not applicable due to being a database study.