Ceftriaxone versus vancomycin prophylaxis in cardiovascular surgery

The efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis in cardiac surgery was compared betw een 97 patients receiving a single 2 g dosage of ceftriaxone and 103 receiv ing 500 mg of vancomycin iv every 6 h for 48 h, The overall infection rate was 13.4% in the ceftriaxone and 10.7% in the vancomycin group. Four (4%) w ound infections, including one mediastinitis, occurred in the ceftriaxone g roup and five (5%) in the vancomycin group, with no statistically significa nt difference. The findings of this study support the adequacy of a simple single dose of ceftriaxone prophylaxis in cardiac surgery, at least in hosp itals with low incidence of vancomycin-resistant staphylococcal infections.