The influence of recently published guidelines by the Surgical Infection Society (SIS) on current surgical practice are not well documented. The appropriateness of antibiotic administration in a cohort of surgical patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery in a department of surgery in an urban, community-based, private, 560-bed teaching hospital was retrospectively reviewed. The following were the criteria defining administration as appropriate as modified from SIS guidelines: Prophylactic use: (1) started prior to operation; (2) spectrum appropriate to the specific operation; (3) duration = 24 hours. Therapeutic use: (1) started prior to operation; (2) spectrum appropriate to pathology; (3) Duration = 24 hours for contamination or "resectable" infection and = 5 days for established infection in the absence of clinical evidence of persisting infection. Any switchover from an appropriate agent to another appropriate or inappropriate agent in the same patient in the absence of microbiologic or clinical indication was considered inappropriate administration. We reviewed the charts of 211 randomly selected patients who underwent elective (n = 132) or emergency (n = 79) procedures during 1996. The operations included gastrectomy (n = 22), appendectomy (n = 27), open (n = 5) or laparoscopic (n = 27) cholecystectomy, colectomy (n = 28), hysterectomy (n = 8), laparotomy for intestinal obstruction (n = 11), mastectomy (n = 26), and ventral hernia repair (n = 37). A total of 17 antibiotics were used for prophylaxis and 21 for therapy. In 156 patients (74%) the administration was considered inappropriate. Eight patients in the inappropriate group developed diarrhea (two cases of Clostridium difficile-induced colitis) compared to two cases of diarrhea in the appropriate group (nonsignificant). The average duration of administration after elective and emergency operations was 3.3 and 5. 7 days, respectively. The total expense for excessive duration of administration was $18,533. Many surgeons are not familiar with the spectrum of antimicrobials and often do not distinguish between prophylactic and therapeutic administration. Antibiotic usage in current surgical practice is often inappropriate, excessive, and chaotic.
Many leaks after gastric bypass are radiologically contained GJ and pouch leaks and can be safely managed nonoperatively. Radiologic features and bilious drainage were key determinants of treatment, with operative treatment used for diffuse GJ leaks, bilious drainage, or clinical suspicion with a negative UGI. Outcomes were similar in both groups.
The findings show that LA is associated with fewer complications and similar total costs compared with OA. Therefore, LA can be recommended as a preferred approach to appendectomy.
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