A Study on the Usage Pattern of Antimicrobial Agents for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Context: Inappropriate antimicrobial use increases the incidence of drug resistance, drug toxicity and superinfections, thereby increasing the healthcare costs. Various approaches for rationalizing the antimicrobial therapy, have been suggested. Collection of baseline data on the pattern of the antimicrobial use is usually suggested as the first step in this direction, which will help in identifying the problem areas, which demand our attention. Aims: To study the usage pattern of prophylactic antimicrobials in surgical patients, in order to detect any inappropriateness concerning the selection, timing, redosing and the duration of antimicrobial administration. Settings and Design: A retrospective review of the randomly selected medical records of general surgical cases over an 8 month period in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods and Material: The medical records of 258 patients who had undergone surgical procedures were verified for the appropriateness of the antimicrobial prophylaxis, with respect to the choice of the antimicrobial agent, the time of its administration, the intraoperative dosing, and the duration of the postoperative use. The obtained data was analyzed and conclusions were drawn with the help of descriptive statistics. Results: Third generation cephalosporins were used preoperatively in all the 258(100%) patients through the intravenous route. In addition, 77(30%) patients received metronidazole or amikacin. The antimicrobials were administered half an hour to one hour before the surgery. No intraoperative redosing was given. The duration of the postoperative prophylaxis was extended to 36 hours or more in 248(96%) of the cases. Conclusions: The timing of administration of the preoperative dose was appropriate and well delegated to the operating room nurse. The intra operative dose was appropriately omitted. The main concern was the increasing use of the third generation cephalosporins and the unnecessary prolonged duration of the postoperative prophylaxis, which needed to be addressed.