Open AccessEffect of Preoperative Antibiotic Regimen on Development of Infection after Intestinal Surgery
Author(s) -
Washington Ja,
Dearing Wh,
Judd Es,
Elveback Lr
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
annals of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.153
H-Index - 309
eISSN - 1528-1140
pISSN - 0003-4932
DOI - 10.1097/00000658-197410000-00021
Subject(s) - medicine , regimen , antibiotics , surgery , preoperative care , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
A prospective, randomized, double-blind study was performed to compare preoperative antibiotic preparation with neomycin (group 1), neomycin and tetracycline (group 2), and placebo (group 3) in patients undergoing elective intestinal surgery. The 196 patients were approximately equally distributed among the three study groups, which proved similar to each other in terms of age, sex, diagnosis, site of lesion, and operative procedure. There were significantly (P < 0.01) fewer patients with postoperative wound sepsis in the neomycin-tetracycline group (group 2) than in either of the two other groups. Postoperative wound infection rates in groups 1 and 3 were nearly identical. Most infections contained both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Eight of nine episodes of septicemia due to Bacteroides fragilis occurred in patients in groups 1 and 3.