A Retrospective Study on the Protective Effects of Topical Vancomycin in Patients Undergoing Multilevel Spinal Fusion.

Background: Topical vancomycin may be an effective intervention to decrease the risk of postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs). The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of topical vancomycin with intravenous (IV) cefazolin compared with IV cefazolin alone on the incidence of SSI in instrumented multilevel spinal fusion (MLSF) surgery.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients 18 years and older who underwent instrumented MLSF surgery between January 1, 2010, and July 31, 2014.