Use of prophylactic antibiotics in patients undergoing clean elective surgeries. Prospective comparative study

Abstract

The indiscriminate use of antibiotics and their mismanagement by health workers is a frequent worldwide problem, which has increased bacterial resistance, treatment costs and the need for new antibiotics, frequently more expensive and more toxic ^(5,6). Objective: to evaluate the use of prophylactic antibiotics in patients undergoing clean elective surgeries, in private centers in the Aragua state, in the period between February and August of 2019. Methods: prospective longitudinal, observational, analytical epidemiological clinical study. The participants were a non-probabilistic sample of the intentional type of 49 patients of the total study population, undergoing elective surgery, cholecystectomy (14 / 28,57%), umbilical herniorrhaphy (6 / 12,24%) and inguinal hernioplasty (29 /59,18%). The sample was classified into 2 groups, a group A, who were given prophylactic antibiotic therapy and a group B, who were restricted from using it. Results: the average age was 37,7 ± 12,17 years, predominantly male. On the fifth day of the postoperative period, no signs of infectious complication were observed neither in group A nor in group B. On the tenth day after the postoperative period, signs of infectious complication were observed in one patient (4,3%) belonging to the antibiotic administration group. No infectious complication was observed in the group without antibiotic administration. Conclusion: indication and maintenance of prophylactic antibiotics 7-10 days in clean surgery does not show any difference in presentation of infectious complications compared with the non-administration of antibiotics for this type surgery, with  potential risk of producing adverse effects and development of bacterial resistance .