[Short-term versus long-term antimicrobial prophylaxis in abdominal surgery: a multicenter open randomized comparative trial].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the outcome of short-term antimicrobial prophylaxis versus long-term in surgical site infection (SSI).


METHODS
731 patients undergoing abdominal operation from 15 hospitals were randomly divided into 2 groups. 358 patients were enrolled in the short-term group (24 h), and 373 patients in the long-term group (72 h). There was no difference between the 2 groups with regard to age, sex, and types operation. Netilmicin was used alone or in combination with metronidazole.


RESULTS
The rates of SSI in the short-term and long-term groups were 0.84% and 2.68% (P > 0.05), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrated that the short-term antimicrobial agents prophylaxis is effective in the prevention of post-operative SSI. The long-term one act does not better than the short-term in terms of rationality and pharmacoeconomics.
Yang
Z
Z
Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medial College Hospital, Beijing 100730, China. yangzy@csc.pumch.ac.cn
D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009428:Netilmicin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D009428:Netilmicin