Overall, a total of 241 (2.7%) patients contracted an SSI. In a multivariate analysis, patients who had reported a penicillin allergy were 50% more likely to develop an SSI than those who had no reported allergy (adjusted odds ratio, 1.5; P = .04).
Risk may even be higher than 50% in the general health care population because this health center has a relatively low rate of SSIs, compared with many other hospitals, Dr. Blumenthal and her fellow investigators stated.
The increased risk primarily concerns the treatment used because those with a reported allergy were more likely than those without the allergy to be given clindamycin (48.8% vs. 3.1%, respectively), vancomycin (34.7% vs. 3.3%), gentamicin (24% vs. 2.8%), or fluoroquinolones (6.8% vs. 1.3%) instead of the most commonly used antibiotic, cefazolin (12.2% vs. 92.4%).
Patients given antibiotics other than cefazolin were usually given treatment outside of the perioperative window, which could severely increase the likelihood for developing an SSI, according to investigators. Of patients given vancomycin, 97.5% did not receive their treatment in the recommended time frame, compared with 1.7% of those given cefazolin.
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