CURRENT ATTITUDES CONCERNING THE DURATION OF ANTIBIOTIC-THERAPY FOLLOWING OPERATIONS FOR ABDOMINAL CONTAMINATION AND INFECTION - RESULTS OFAN ISRAELI NATIONAL SURVEY

A mail survey of 283 members of the Isreali Association of Surgeons wa s conducted to document their current attitudes concerning the duratio n of antibiotic therapy following emergency operations for abdominal c ontamination and infection. The response rate to the questionnaire was 26.5%. Evaluation of responses demonstrated that about half of the an swers supported an excessive use of postoperative antibiotics. It appe ars that failure to distinguish between contamination - requiring no o r minimal postoperative administration - and infection - requiring a p roper postoperative course - is currently the main reason for the unne cessarily prolonged use of antibiotics.