The necessity of treating asymptomatic bacteriuria with antibiotics in the perioperative period of joint arthroplasty: a metaanalysis.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Oral antibiotics are usually used to treat asymptomatic bacteriuria during the perioperative period of joint replacement. However, there is no unified conclusion as to whether asymptomatic bacteriuria causes infection around joint prostheses, and the efficacy of antibiotics is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed, CNKI, Ovid, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, manual research, and references of relevant articles up to January 1, 2020, to identify and compare observational studies. The Cochrane systematic review method was used, and Review Manager 5.3 software was used for analysis. RESULTS: Nine articles were included in the analysis, involving 29,844 cases of joint arthroplasty and 2366 cases of asymptomatic bacteriuria. Periprosthetic joint infection had a significantly higher incidence in the asymptomatic bacteriuria group than in the nonasymptomatic bacteriuria group (Odds Ratio: OR = 3.15, 95% CI: 1.23–8.02, P = 0.02). Seven of the nine articles reported the use of antibiotics for treating perioperative asymptomatic bacteriuria and there was no significant difference in the incidence of periprosthetic joint infection between the two groups (OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 0.84–3.23, P = 0.15). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in the perioperative period of joint arthroplasty is a risk factor for periprosthetic joint infection, and the use of antibiotics for asymptomatic bacteriuria does not change the rate of incidence.