Trends in the Use of Antibiotics for Open Forearm Fractures in Pediatric Patients From 2015 to 2023

Background The purpose of this study was to assess the current practices and trends of antibiotic use for pediatric open fractures across varying severities.Methods This was a retrospective review of the Pediatric Health Information System database from October 2015 to December 2023. Patients 18 years old or younger with an International Classification of Diseases diagnosis code corresponding to an initial encounter open forearm fracture were included in this study. The Gustilo-Anderson system was utilized to classify fracture severity. Fisher's exact, Chi-squared, and Mann-Kendall tests were used to analyze antibiotic data.Results A total of 1,224 patients were included in this study. Most patients had type I or II fractures (97.2%) and did not receive surgical intervention (51.9%). A cephalosporin was administered to 95.7% of patients with open fractures, with cefazolin being the most utilized antibiotic (92.9%). Type I or II open fracture patients received only cefazolin at a significantly higher rate than type IIIA-C fracture patients (93.4% vs. 76.5%; P P P P P Conclusions In recent years, there has been an improvement in adherence to the current standard of care for antibiotic selection in pediatric type I or II open forearm fracture patients. However, variability still exists for type IIIA-C open fractures, suggesting the need for further standardization of antibiotic usage for these patients. Our findings highlight the need for additional studies to recommend the optimal antibiotic protocol in type IIIA-C pediatric open fractures.Key concepts (1)There has been recent improvement in adherence to the current antibiotic standard of care for type I or II open fractures in pediatric patients.(2)There may be sufficient regional standardization of general antibiotic selection for pediatric open fractures across the United States.(3)There is still variability for type IIIA-C open fractures, suggesting the need for further standardization in these cases and additional studies to recommend the optimal antibiotic protocol.Level of evidence III, Retrospective Cohort Study.