Should I be Offered Antibiotics?
You should not be offered antibiotics to prevent infective endocarditis for any of these procedures:
a dental procedure
an obstetric or gynaecological procedure, or childbirth
a procedure on the bladder or urine system
a procedure on the gullet, stomach or intestines
a procedure on the airways, including ear, nose and throat procedures and bronchoscopy.
But you will be offered antibiotics if you are having a medical procedure at a site where there is a suspected infection in the gullet, stomach or intestines, or in the reproductive or urine system. Everyone with a suspected infection is given antibiotics if they have these types of procedure. The only difference for people at risk of infective endocarditis is that their antibiotics will be chosen so that they kill the bacteria that can cause infective endocarditis as well as other types of bacteria.
