Antibiotic prophylaxis in total abdominal hysterectomy: A case-control study

Abstract

A retrospective case-control study was conducted to evaluate the use of prophylactic antibiotics in the prevention of serious postoperative infection in patients undergoing elective total abdominal hysterectomy between 1 January 1992 and 30 December 1995. A total of 439 women had a total abdominal hysterectomy during this period. Forty-three percent of the patients were given prophylactic cefotaxime before the procedure. Cefotaxime was chosen because it is a broad spectrum antibiotic and has been proven to be effective in reducing postoperative morbidity. A single dose was adequate in reducing surgical wound breakdown (0 vs 6, p < 0.05), urinary tract infection (5 vs 21, p < 0.01) and hospital stay (7 vs 9, p < 0.05); fewer patients required additional antibiotic therapy (27 vs 47, p < 0.05) and none developed superinfection.