Antibiotic Use and Surgical Site Infections in Immunocompromised Patients After Mohs Micrographic Surgery: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

• Published in: Dermatologic surgery Vol. 48; no. 12; p. 1283
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Tuyet A, Rowe, Georgina, Harris, Kristin, Ko, Steven, Ko, Matthew, Gharavi, Nima M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2022
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Mohs Surgery - adverse effects; Retrospective Studies; Surgical Wound Infection - epidemiology; Surgical Wound Infection - etiology; Surgical Wound Infection - prevention & control
• ISSN: 1524-4725
• DOI: 10.1097/DSS.0000000000003620

As Mohs micrographic surgery becomes more widely used in immunosuppressed patients, it is important to understand the risks in this unique population. To determine whether immunosuppressed patients are at an increased risk for surgical site infection and evaluate the utility of postoperative antibiotics for the prevention of surgical site infection. A single-center retrospective review of patients who underwent Mohs micrographic surgery between October 9, 2014, and August 20, 2021, was performed. Five thousand eight hundred eighty-six independent cases were identified. Factors associated with an increased incidence of antibiotic use included preoperative lesion size >40 mm (86.7%, n = 13; p < .01) and high-risk lesion location (46.4%, n = 1,268; p < .01). Patients were not more likely to be prescribed antibiotics if immunosuppressed (37.0%, n = 269 vs 34.2%, n = 1765; p = .14), and immunosuppression was not independently associated with antibiotic use on multivariate analysis (odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval 1.0-1.5). Infection rates were similar between immunocompromised patients and immunocompetent patients (2.1%, n = 15 vs 1.6%, n = 80, respectively; p = .30). In immunosuppressed patients, antibiotic use did not decrease the likelihood of infection (3.0%, n = 8 vs 1.5%, n = 7; p = .19). There was no association between immunosuppression and surgical infection rate. Furthermore, postoperative antibiotics should not be indicated in these patients unless other high-risk criteria exist.