Antibiotics after puncture wounds to the foot

Date First Published:

March 1, 2000

Last Updated:

January 10, 2002

Report by:

Magnus Harrison, Clinical Reseach Fellow (Manchester Royal Infirmary)

Search checked by:

Martin Thomas, Manchester Royal Infirmary

Three-Part Question:

In [patients presenting with pedal puncture wounds] does the [administration of antibiotics] reduce [infective complications]?

Clinical Scenario:

A 32 year old man presents with a pedal puncture wound, which was sustained 4 hours prior to attending the emergency department. You wonder whether antibiotics should be prescribed to reduce infective complications.

Search Strategy:

Medline 1966-11/01 using the OVID interface.

Search Details:

[(exp foot injuries OR exp foot OR feet.mp OR foot.mp OR pedal.mp OR plantar.mp) AND {(exp wounds and injuries OR injur$.mp) AND (penetrate$.mp OR penetrating.mp OR exp punctures OR puncture$.mp) OR exp wounds, penetrating)} AND (exp antibiotics OR antibiotic$.mp)] LIMIT to human AND English.LIMIT to human AND english.

Outcome:

29 papers found none of which were relevant.

Author Commentary:

While there are many review articles in this area, there appears to be no published evidence to underpin the views expressed.

Bottom Line:

Local advice should be followed.