ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess utilization pattern of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in surgical wards of Dil Chora Referral Hospital.ResultsProphylactic antibiotics were given in all surgical procedures. More than half of the participants 206(53.6%) were given Ceftriaxone while combination of Ceftriaxone and Metronidazole were used for 159(41.4%) patients. The most common procedure (88.3%), appendectomy, was managed with combination of Ceftriaxone and Metronidazole while the remaining was on Ceftriaxone. Hernia repair, another common procedure seen in this ward, was majorly managed by combination of Ceftriaxone and Metronidazole (60.7%) while the rest were on ceftriaxone alone. In general, inconsistence in antibiotic selection for different types of surgical procedures was seen. The surgical prophylactic antibiotics should be prescribed according to the international guidelines.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3629-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.