Preventive Antibiotics Stopped After Hip Surgery

Percent of Hip Replacement Surgery Patients Whose Preventive Antibiotics are Stopped Within 24 hours After Surgery
April 2007 - March 2008

What the graph is saying

For this measure, higher percentages are better. The graph above shows that HealthEast and Woodwinds are above the Minnesota average. St. John's is consistent with the average and St. Joseph's is just slightly below the average.

Why is this measure important?

Antibiotics are medicines to prevent and treat infections. While the likelihood of infection after surgery can be reduced by giving patients preventative antibiotics, taking these antibiotics for more than 24 hours after routine surgery is usually not necessary and can increase the risk of side effects such as stomach aches, serious types of diarrhea, and antibiotic resistance (when antibiotics are used too much, they will not work anymore.) There are exceptions – for example, where the surgical site has been contaminated (making the surgery not routine).Talk to your doctor if you have questions about how long you should take antibiotics after surgery.

Description above from the United States Department of Health & Human Services Hospital Compare web site: www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov

* The "Top U.S. Hospitals" represent the top 10% of all hospitals reporting information to Hospital Compare.