Postoperative antibiotic prescriptions are associated with reduced rates of infections after facial plastic surgery, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.

Cristen Olds, M.D., from Stanford Hospital and Clinics in California, and colleagues used IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental research databases to identify 294,039 patients (55.9 percent women; mean age, 54 years) who underwent facial plastic surgery procedures during 2007 to 2015. Antibiotic prescription patterns in the immediate postoperative period were assessed along with rates of postoperative infectious complications.