Thursday, July 17, 2008

AAE's Updated Antibiotic Prophylaxis Guidelines

As many of you know, on April 19th, 2007, the American Heart Association announced a major change in the guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent infective endocarditis in certain dental patients. (Click here to see the official publication)

The AAE has also released it's updated guidelines relating to dental/endodontic procedures. These published guidelines were prepared by the AAE Clinical Practice Committee and are based on the ADA guidelines. (click here to see the ADA's official statement)

The new guidelines note that the practice of premedicating patients before a dental procedure is not longer recommended EXCEPT for patients with the highest risk of adverse outcomes resulting from bacterial endocarditis.

Premedication for patients with mitral valve prolapse, rheumatic heart disease, bicuspid valve disease, calcified aortic stenosis or congenital heart conditions such as ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons have made no changes to their recommendations for patients with joint replacement. This means that those patients should continue to take antibiotics prior to dental procedures. (click here to see the official statement from AAOS)


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