2026 AAHKS Annual Meeting: Antibiotic Prophylaxis Through Wound Closure May Be Sufficient After Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty

5668 patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were retrospectively evaluated after receiving prophylactic antibiotics discontinued at wound closure (n=2715) or continued with an additional postoperative dose (n=2953). The primary outcome of interest was periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) within 90 days. Secondary outcomes included superficial surgical site infection, hospital readmission, and antibiotic-related complications. Outcomes were assessed up to 90 days postoperatively. Overall, the results revealed no significant difference in PJI rates between groups (0.80% vs. 0.87%), while antibiotic-related complications occurred only in patients receiving an additional postoperative dose. These findings suggested that discontinuing antibiotic prophylaxis at wound closure may be sufficient to prevent infection following primary TKA while reducing unnecessary antibiotic exposure.