Single dose versus 24 - Hours antibiotic prophylaxis against surgical site infections

Objective: to observe the effect of single dose antibiotic is it as efficient as a 24-hour regimen in preventing ssis in adults undergoing clean,clean contaminated and contaminated elective surgical procedures. study design: random,prospective setting and duration: department of general surgery,liaquat university hospital,jamshoro,pakistan from may 2011 to april 2012 patients and methods: a total of 208 patients undergoing general surgical operations were included in the study. the patients were randomly divided into two groups. the single-dose group received 2 grams of ceftriaxone intravenously,whereas the 24-hour group received 2 grams of ceftriaxone intravenously at the time of induction of anaesthesia,followed by 1 g at 8 and 16 hours postoperatively. results: the administration of ceftriaxone in a single dose regimen was associated with higher rate of ssis compared with rates for patients receiving the 24-hour regimen (9.6% vs. 6.7%). conclusion: multiple doses of prophylactic antibiotics over 24 hours should be used instead of single doses in surgical prophylaxis in clean-contaminated and contaminated procedures.