The use of prophylactic antibiotics in patients undergoing emergency primary cesarean section.
The use of short-course (24-hour) prophylactic antibiotics was studied in 84 consecutive afebrile patients who underwent emergency primary cesarean section. There was a significant reduction in the incidence of postoperative endomyometritis in the group prophylactic antibiotics (12/45, 26.7%) compared to the control group not given prophylactic antibiotics (20/39, 51.3%), p less than 0.05. The duration of hospital stay was also significantly reduced by the use of prophylactic antibiotics (4.3 +/- 0.6 days versus 5.1 +/- 1.3 days, p less than 0.05). Other identified advantages that resulted from the use of prophylactic antibiotics included a shorter duration of treatment required for postoperative endomyometritis in the group given prophylactic antibiotics and an increased likelihood of being cured by initial therapy for endomyometritis in the group given prophylactic antibiotics (100% versus 70%). When taken together, these results indicate that the urgency of operation is a unique risk factor for postoperative infectious morbidity, and suggest that patients who undergo emergency primary cesarean section benefit from a short course of prophylactic antibiotics.
D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002585:Cesarean Section; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D011247:Pregnancy; D011292:Premedication; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D013997:Time Factors
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents