Q. A 19-year-old boy was admitted yesterday with an open fracture of the distal right tibia and fibula while water-skiing on a freshwater lake. He had open tibial and fibular fracture type III (Gustilo-Anderson) with a 5 cm wound on the medial side of the leg. He had no neurovascular injury, both fractures were fixed with internal fixation, and the wound was closed within 5 hours after the injury. Following the surgery, he receives IV piperacillin-tazobactam 4.5 g every 6 hours and subcutaneous enoxaparin 40 mg every 24 hours. Today, the wound is clean, with no tension, and the right lower limb has no abnormal edema. The neurovascular exam is normal. He has no fever, and his vital signs are normal. The postoperative x-ray shows an anatomic fracture reduction, and the surgeon’s note mentions that the fracture fixation is rigid and the wound is closed with minimal tension. Today, the plan is to get him out of bed. He asks you how long he should receive the parenteral antibiotics. What is the best choice?

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