Systemic prophylactic antibiotics in elective biliary surgery
Z. Kaufman, M. Engelberg, A. Eliashiv and R. Reiss
We tested the effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotics in elective
cholecystectomy in 105 patients in a single-blind, controlled randomized
trial. Fifty-six patients received prophylactic antibiotics and 49 patients
entered the control group. Of the patients who received prophylactic
antibiotics, 3.6% had wound infections, v24.5% in the control group. The
rate of wound infection in patients with positive bile cultures, diabetes,
appendectomies, and choledochotomies was 24.4%, v 3.4% in the group who had
cholecystectomies only, with negative bile cultures and no diabetes. We
concluded that prophylactic antibiotics are effective in patients with
high-risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, exploration of the
choledochus, and appendectomy, and in patients with positive bile cultures.
