Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis : adherence to hospital’s guidelines

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the compliance to local hospital guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis in general surgery in terms of the appropriateness of prophylactic antibiotic indication, the choice of antibiotic, the dose administered, the time of administration and the duration of prophylaxis. Data regarding antibiotic prophylaxis was collected from the patients’ records and compared to the local guidelines. The overall percentage adherence was then calculated, as well as the percentage of correct antibiotic, dose, administration and duration. A total of 110 cases, which included patients undergoing general surgery procedures, were assessed from 6 surgical wards. From the total, only 9.3% were found to be completely adherent to local guidelines. In 24.4% of the cases, correct use of antibiotics, dose and route of administration was observed, while correct duration of prophylaxis was recorded in 9.3% of the cases. Antibiotic prophylaxis is an effective and cost-efficient way of avoiding surgical skin infections; hence hospitals should ensure appropriate use of antibiotic prophylaxis.