A. Silver et al., TIMELINESS AND USE OF ANTIBIOTIC-PROPHYLAXIS IN SELECTED INPATIENT SURGICAL-PROCEDURES, The American journal of surgery, 171(6), 1996, pp. 548-552
BACKGROUND: Twenty-five percent of all nosocomial infections are wound
infections. Professional guidelines support the timely use of preoper
ative prophylaxis for prevention of postoperative wound infections. Ba
rriers exist in implementing this practice, IPRO, the New York State p
eer review organization, as part of the Health Care Financing Administ
ration's Health Care Quality Improvement Program, sought to determine
the proportion of patients receiving timely antibiotic prophylaxis for
aortic grafts, hip replacements and colon resections in 44 hospitals
in New York State. METHODS: IPRO conducted a retrospective medical rec
ord review of 44 hospitals through out New York State stratified for t
eaching, nonteaching status. A sample was drawn of 2651 patients, 2256
from Medicare and 395 from Medicaid, undergoing either abdominal aort
ic aneurysm repair, partial or total hip replacement or large bowel re
section. The study determined the proportion of patients who had docum
entation of receiving antibiotics and those who received antibiotics t
imely, that is less than or equal to 2 hours preoperatively. RESULTS:
Eighty-six percent of patients had documentation of receiving an antib
iotic. Forty-six percent of aneurysm repairs and 60% of hip replacemen
ts had evidence of receiving timely antibiotic prophylaxis, that is wi
thin 2 hours prior to surgery. For colon resections, 73% of cases had
either oral prophylaxis or timely parenteral therapy. An increased pro
portion of patients had received parenteral antibiotics prematurely as
the surgical start time occurred later in the day. A total of 44 diff
erent antibiotics were recorded for prophylaxis, CONCLUSIONS: Antibiot
ic prophylaxis was performed in 81% to 94% of cases, however, anywhere
from 27% to 54% of all cases did not receive antibiotics in a timely
fashion, By delegating implementation of ordered antibiotic prophylaxi
s to the anesthesia team, timing may be improved and the incidence of
postoperative wound infections may decrease.