Introduction: Orthognathic surgery is a common invasive surgical procedure used to correct maxillofacial deformities. Complications such as postoperative edema, pain, vomiting and infection have been reported in the literature. In this presentation, the treatment of persistent infections after orthognathic surgery is described.

Case Report: Orthognathic surgery of 3 patients who applied to Erciyes University Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department for correction of jaw deformity was performed under general anesthesia. After the 2nd postoperative week, the patients had localized edema and intraoral pus flow. Penicillin and metronidazole were given to the patients for infection control, cultures were taken. Rare bacteria grown in oral infections such as enterobacter cloacae, klebsiella pneumoniaa were grown in cultures. Antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated and appropriate antibiotic therapy was administered.

Conclusion: Surgical site infection management is difficult and may occur after orthognathic surgery. The use of prophylactic antibiotics reduces the risk of postoperative infection in orthognathic surgery. Most microorganisms are sensitive to penicillin. Antibiotic treatment should be administered according to the culture and sensitivity test results. In order to prevent infection of the incision site, attention should be paid to postoperative oral hygiene, perioperative wound design and diet, apart from antibiotics. In these cases, rare bacteria were isolated as a result of prolonged use of antibiotics. Therefore, care should be taken in the rational use of antibiotics.

Keywords: Orthognathic surgery, bacterial infection, antibiotic therapy