Prevention

People with heart valve abnormalities, artificial valves, or congenital heart defects are recommended to take antibiotics before certain surgical, dental, and medical procedures so as to prevent infective endocarditis.

The efficacy of this preventive approach has not been studied on a large scale. Proof for a potential lack of effect doesn’t exist either. Hence prophylaxis continues to be recommended owing to the fatality of the disease.

The following is the list of procedures that mandate prophylactic antibiotics:

Surgical Procedures

Heart valve replacement
Open-heart surgery
Removal of tonsils or adenoids
Lung surgery
Surgery on the intestines or bile ducts
Prostate surgery

Dental Procedures

Tooth extraction
Periodontal procedures such as gum surgery, scaling, root planing, and probing
Placement of dental implants
Replacement of a tooth that was knocked out
Root canal surgery beyond the end of the root
Placement of orthodontic bands beneath the gums
Injection of an anesthetic into a ligament
Cleanings if bleeding is expected to result

Medical Procedures

Use of catheters or intravenous lines to provide fluids, nutrition, or drugs
Bronchoscopy
Cystoscopy
Dilation of the esophagus
Dilation of the urethra
Endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (endoscopy, with injection of a dye that can be seen on x-rays, to remove gallstones in the bile duct)
Sclerotherapy for varicose veins in the esophagus