Infection in Orthognathic Surgery: Rates, Antibiotics, and When to Worry

<p>In this episode, Dr. Bobek and Dr. Wasson discuss infection in orthognathic surgery, including how to define it, how often it actually occurs, and how they each approach antibiotic use around the time of surgery.</p><p><br></p><p>Topics covered in this episode:</p><p>- How to define surgical site infection in orthognathic surgery and why the criteria matter for tracking outcomes</p><p>- Reported infection rates in the literature and what clean contaminated surgery benchmarks look like</p><p>- The debate around post-operative antibiotic prescribing: who uses them, who does not, and why- How the mandible differs from the maxilla in terms of surgical site infection frequency</p><p>- When drainage after surgery signals infection vs normal healing</p><p>- Hardware as a driver of persistent infection and the role of plate and screw fixation vs positional screws</p><p>- When to remove hardware and how timing affects recovery- True osteomyelitis after jaw surgery: how rare it actually is, how to diagnose it, and how it differs from non-union</p><p>- Why non-union is more likely than osteomyelitis in the setting of a persistent post-op problem</p><p>- Antibiotic selection, dosing schedules, and compliance considerations</p><p>- How patient expectations and clinical reality both shape antibiotic prescribing decisions in practice</p><p><br></p><p>📬 Questions or topic suggestions: downfracturedpodcast@gmail.com</p><p><br></p><p>The Down Fracture Podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. All opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts and their guests.</p>