The outcome measures of the studies were : Wound infection , intra abdominal abscess , length of stay in hospital , and mortality .
The overall result is that the use of antibiotics is superior to placebo for preventing wound infection and intraabdominal abscess , with no apparent difference in the nature of the removed appendix .
Studies exclusively on children and studies examining topical application reported results in favour to the above , although the results were not significant .
Antibiotic prophylaxis is effective in the prevention of postoperative complications in appendectomised patients , whether the administration is given pre- , peri- or post-operatively , and could be considered for routine in emergency appendectomies
BACKGROUND Appendicitis is the most common cause of acute abdominal pain requiring surgical intervention .
The cause of appendicitis is unclear and the mechanism of pathogenesis continues to be debated .
Despite improved asepsis and surgical techniques , postoperative complications , such as wound infection and intraabdominal abscess , still account for a significant morbidity .
Several studies implicate that postoperative infections are reduced by administration of antimicrobial regimes .
OBJECTIVES This review evaluated the use of antibiotics compared to placebo or no treatment in patients undergoing appendectomy .
Will these patients benefit from antimicrobial prophylaxis ?
Use of prophylactic antimicrobial drugs to prevent postoperative wound infections.
Abstract From March 1 , 1966 through March 31 , 1967 , 525 patients on the General Surgery Service of Brooke General Hospital underwent abdominal surgery during which the gastrointestinal or the biliary tracts were open . In three ( 1.5 per cent ) of 189 patients who received prophylactically a combination of penicillin G , chloramphenicol , and methicillin before , during , and immediately after operation wound infections developed , whereas wound infections occurred in thirty-seven of 336 control patients . The difference in incidence of infection between these two groups of patients is highly significant ( p Specific groups of patients in whom the incidence of wound infections apparently was reduced significantly by prophylactic administration of antibiotics included those who underwent cholecystectomy , emergency gastric surgery for bleeding , elective gastric surgery , and emergency colostomies . In view of the high degree of statistical significance in the difference in incidence of wound infection in the totals of treated and control patients , the lack of statistically significant difference in incidence of wound infections between treated and control subgroups of patients undergoing other abdominal operations probably can be attributed to the small number of patients in these groups
The outcome measures of the studies were : Wound infection , intra abdominal abscess , length of stay in hospital , and mortality .
The overall result is that the use of antibiotics is superior to placebo for preventing wound infection and intraabdominal abscess , with no apparent difference in the nature of the removed appendix .
Studies exclusively on children and studies examining topical application reported results in favour to the above , although the results were not significant .
Antibiotic prophylaxis is effective in the prevention of postoperative complications in appendectomised patients , whether the administration is given pre- , peri- or post-operatively , and could be considered for routine in emergency appendectomies
BACKGROUND Appendicitis is the most common cause of acute abdominal pain requiring surgical intervention .
The cause of appendicitis is unclear and the mechanism of pathogenesis continues to be debated .
Despite improved asepsis and surgical techniques , postoperative complications , such as wound infection and intraabdominal abscess , still account for a significant morbidity .
Several studies implicate that postoperative infections are reduced by administration of antimicrobial regimes .
OBJECTIVES This review evaluated the use of antibiotics compared to placebo or no treatment in patients undergoing appendectomy .
Will these patients benefit from antimicrobial prophylaxis ?