Reduced Antibiotic Duration Still Prevents Infection After Colorectal Surgery

Postoperative antibiotic use might not be necessary for patients who undergo colorectal surgery, according to the findings of a recent study.

The case-controlled retrospective study conducted at Mayo Clinic included 965 patients who underwent colorectal surgery. Superficial and deep surgical site infection rates were assessed and compared between cohort 1, which included 493 patients from 2012 to 2013 who received preoperative and postoperative antibiotic coverage for up to 24 hours, and cohort 2, which included 472 patients who underwent surgery from 2014 through 2015 and received preoperative and intraoperative dosing but did not receive postoperative antibiotics.
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Overall, there were no differences in superficial or deep surgical site infection rates between the cohorts. Twenty-eight patients (5.7%) in cohort 1 experienced a superficial or deep surgical site infection compared with 25 patients (5.3%) in cohort 2, after changes in postoperative antibiotic dosing duration practices.

“These equivalent results present an opportunity for surgeons to reconsider optimal antibiotic duration and minimize unnecessary antibiotic dosing,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Dornfeld M, Lovely JK, Huebner M, Larson DW. Surgical site infection in colorectal surgery: a study in antibiotic duration. Dis Colon Rectum. 2017:60(9);971–978.