title: Single dose intra-rectal metronidazole as prophylaxis against wound infection following emergency appendicectomy.
abstract: A prospective placebo controlled randomized trial was carried out in 104 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of acute appendicitis. A single dose of 1 g of metronidazole was given intra-rectally 1 h preoperatively. There were 16 wound infections, 15 (out of 50) in the placebo group, 1 (out of 54) in the metronidazole group. This study supports the already accepted value of metronidazole but suggests that a single intra-rectal dose regimen is adequate for prophylaxis.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001062:Appendectomy; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011292:Premedication; D011897:Random Allocation; D012007:Rectum; D013488:Suppositories; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D013488:Suppositories; D008795:Metronidazole