Infection rates in surgical procedures: a comparison of cefalexin vs. a placebo

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxi s in small animal surgery. Three hundred and twenty-nine dogs and 544 cats were included in a prospective, randomised, blind trial to determine the fr equency of wound infection after clean and clean-contaminated surgical proc edures. The animals were allocated to one of two groups: group A received a placebo and group B received cefalexin. The infection rate was measured in each group and correlated with different criteria (age, duration and type of the operation, anaesthetic and Altemeier's class, surgeon's experience). Globally, seventy-eight cases of infection were noted (8.9%). The infectio n rates in the two groups were not significantly different (9.4% in group A and 8.5% in group B). Infection rate was not affected by the different cri teria studied. However, the percentage of animals infected in group B tende d to be lower than that of group A as the surgeons' experience increased.