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 ?
Prophylactic antibiotics in uncomplicated appendicitis during childhood--a prospective randomised study.
544 children operated upon for uncomplicated appendicitis were r and omised into three groups . Group I received no antibiotics , patients in Group II were administered one single pre-operative dose of metronidazole ( 10 mg/kg ) and patients in Group III received both both metronidazole ( 20 mg/kg ) and cefuroxime ( 50 mg/kg ) in a single preoperative dose . The rate of infectious complications in Group I was 6.3 % but only 2.1 and 2.3 in Groups II and III , respectively . Among patients with a normal appendix or patients with simple appendicitis there was no difference in the rate of post-operative infections between the three different groups . However , in patients with gangrenous appendicitis the rate of postoperative infections was significantly lower in the two groups who received preoperative antibiotics ( 1.8 % and 3.0 % respectively ) than in the group receiving no prophylactic antibiotics ( infection rate 14 % ) . It is concluded that a single preoperative dose of metronidazole significantly decreases the rate of postoperative infectious complications in children with appendicitis . No further improvement could be demonstrated if cefuroxime against aerobic organisms was added
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 ?