Inpatient surgical care: antibiotic stopped timely after knee arthroplasty surgery (IDPH)

Antibiotics are medicines that can kill bacteria that cause infections. Infections are a possible complication of any surgical procedure. It is important to have antibiotics before surgery and to continue to take them for a short time after surgery. However, taking them for longer than necessary can expose patients to side effects and other complications. For patients having knee replacement surgery, antibiotics should be stopped within 24 hours after surgery. A higher percent may indicate that a hospital provides a higher level of patient care.

About this measure

This measure tracks the percentage of patients having knee replacement surgery whose antibiotics were stopped at the right time, within 24 hours after surgery.

Note: Because this is the first reporting period for this measure, we are not able to provide a graph with trend data. The percentages in the graph were calculated from data on patients who were discharged between October 2009 and September 2010.

In this case, a higher number is better.