Rationale and Comments

The marked increase of prescribing and dispensing of compounded antibiotic powders for soaking after non-complicated office-based procedures has shown no more effectiveness than the current standard (i.e., over-the-counter Betadine, white vinegar, astringent soaks, and Epsom salts), while having the downside of adding significant overall cost to in-office procedures. The hundreds of dollars being spent on these expensive substitutes represents medical waste.

Sponsoring Organizations

• American Podiatric Medical Association

Sources

• Expert consensus

Disciplines

• Infectious disease

References

• There are no peer-reviewed studies to support the use of compounded antibiotic powders over what is currently available for soaking after non-complicated office-based nail and/or skin procedures. There are low-cost alternatives available currently. No reference could be found to support the use of these soaking powders as far as being overall more effective than standard current soaking materials in non-complicated, otherwise-healthy patients.