Higher odds of implant failure reported in patients with penicillin allergy who were prescribed clindamycin

Growing evidence is highlighting the inefficacy of clindamycin as an effective substitute to amoxicillin in patients self-reporting a penicillin allergy. The hypothesis is that implant failure is higher in these patients, when compared to patients receiving penicillin. To test this hypothesis, a systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken and a protocol for delabeling penicillin allergic patients was presented.

A systematic review was undertaken by searching across three different databases, namely PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science.

Results

Out of 572 results, four studies were eligible to be included. Fixed-effects meta-analysis showed a higher number of failed implants in patients who were administered clindamycin, because of a self-reported allergy to penicillin. Results showed that these patients are over three times more likely (OR = 3.30, 95% C.I. 2.58–4.22, p-value < .00001) to undergo implant failure with an average cumulative proportion of 11.0% (95% C.I. 3.5–22.0%) versus 3.8% (95% C.I. 1.2–7.7%) of patients not requiring clindamycin and administered amoxicillin. A protocol for penicillin allergy delabeling is proposed.

The current evidence is still limited and is based on retrospective observational studies, it is difficult to state if penicillin allergy, clindamycin administration or a combination of both is responsible for the current trends and reported findings.

Reference:

Edibam, N. R., Lorenzo-Pouso, A. I., & Caponio, V. C. A. (2023). Self-reported allergy to penicillin and clindamycin administration may be risk factors for dental implant failure: A systematic review, meta-analysis and delabeling protocol. Clinical Oral Implants Research, 00, 1– 11. https://doi.org/10.1111/clr.14073