The data were too few and of insufficient quality to make any recommendations for practice. Future research on antibiotic prophylaxis for operative vaginal delivery is needed to conclude whether it is useful for reducing postpartum morbidity.
Efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics for the prevention of endomyometritis after forceps delivery.
The purpose of this prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was to determine whether prophylactic antibiotics reduce the incidence of endomyometritis after forceps delivery. Of the 393 patients studied, 192 received 2 gm of intravenous cefotetan after forceps delivery, and 201 patients received no antibiotics. There were seven cases of endomyometritis in the group given no antibiotic and none in the cefotetan group, a statistically significant difference (P less than .01). We conclude that prophylactic antibiotics are effective in reducing the incidence of endomyometritis after forceps delivery. We believe this is the first published study demonstrating this benefit.