Antibiotic Prophylaxis and Infectious Complications in Isolated Gunshot Wounds to the Upper Extremity.

Prophylactic antibiotic administration after UE GSWs was inconsistent but more common in patients with ballistic fractures and injuries in the hand. The overall incidence of infection was found to lie between 3% and 6%. The rate of infection in the antibiotic prophylaxis (2%-6%) group was similar to that in the no-antibiotic (5%-7%) group, suggesting that antibiotic prophylaxis may not have a large impact on infectious risk. However, because this study is nonrandomized, and because this study is underpowered for multivariable modeling of infectious risk, it remains possible that subgroups of this population may still benefit from antibiotic prophylaxis.