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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Giving patients a single dose of antibiotics before a surgery seems to prevent infections just as well as giving them the drugs for 24-hours.
Prophylactic antibiotics (preventive antibiotics given before surgery) are known to decrease the number of infections at the site of the surgery. But because of rising health care costs and concerns about drug resistant bacteria, hospitals have been under pressure to use fewer antibiotics.
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Researchers in Brazil studied at the rate of infections after surgery in 12, 299 patients during their stay at a local hospital. They compared the results of a 24-hour antibiotic therapy to a one-gram dose of the antibiotic cephazolin before a procedure. Surgeries included orthopedic, gastrointestinal, urology, vascular, lung, head and neck, heart, gynecological, oncology, colon, neurological and pediatric.
Surgical site infections were reported in 2 percent of surgeries done under the 24-hour antibiotic treatment, and 2.1 percent in surgeries where the patient got a single dose before the surgery. Results also show the number of vials of cephazolin the hospital bought decreased by 63-percent, which saves them $1,980 a month for this drug alone.
The authors conclude, "In this era of restricted hospital budgets and increased bacterial resistance, one-dose prophylaxis may provide a way to improve performance by lowering costs."
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Archives of Surgery, 2006;141:1109-1113
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