FREQUENCY OF WOUND INFECTION IN NON-PERFORATED APPENDICITIS WITH USE OF SINGLE DOSE PREOPERATIVE ANTIBIOTICS

Background: antibiotics are used both pre and post-operatively in acute appendicitis for preventing wound infection. it has been observed that the routine use of post-operative antibiotics is not necessary in cases of non-perforated appendicitis as only prophylactic antibiotics are sufficient to prevent wound infection. the aim of this study was to see the frequency of wound infection in non-perforated appendicitis with single dose preoperative antibiotics only.method: this observational study was conducted at the department of surgery,ayub medical college,abbottabad from may to november 2014. a total of 121 patients with non-perforated appendicitis were included in the study. only single dose preoperative antibiotics were used. the patients were followed for wound infection till 8th post-operative day.results: 121 patients,56 (46.28%) male and 65 (53.72%) female were included in the study. the mean age of patients was 27.41 +/- 7.12 years with an age range of 18 to 45 years. in the entire series,7 (5.78%) patients developed wound infection. the infection was minor which settled with conservative therapy. prophylactic antibiotics were found efficacious in 114 (94.21%) patients. there was no significant association between wound infection and age and gender.conclusion: single dose preoperative antibiotics were found effective in controlling post-operative wound infection without the need of extending the antibiotics to post-operative period in cases of non-perforated appendicitis.