Invasive dental procedures as risk factors for postoperative spinal infection and the effect of antibiotic prophylaxis

AIM: To identify invasive dental procedures as a risk factor for postoperative spinal infection (PSI) and evaluate the effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed 229,335 patients who underwent spinal surgery with instrumentation from 2010 to 2017, using the nationwide database. The incidence of spinal infection 2 years after surgery was determined. Invasive dental procedures as a risk factor for PSI and the effects of antibiotic prophylaxis during this period were also analysed. RESULTS: A total of 15,346 patients (6.69%) were diagnosed with PSI. It was found that advanced age, male sex, and a high Charlson Comorbidity Index were risk factors for PSI. The risk of PSI did not increase following dental procedures (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.850; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.793–0.912) and was not affected by antibiotics (adjusted HR 1.097; 95% CI, 0.987–1.218). Patients who received dental treatment as early as 3 months after spinal surgery had the lowest risk of postoperative infection (adjusted HR 0.869; 95% CI, 0.795–0.950). CONCLUSIONS: Invasive dental procedure does not increase the risk of PSI, and antibiotic prophylaxis before dental procedure was not effective in preventing spinal infection.