Clinical practice guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgery

Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis

“…7 Most guidelines, including Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic, recommend that preoperative intravenous antibiotics be given within 60 minutes of incision. 3,8,14,[31][32][33][34] More recently, the World Health Organization recommended administration within 120 minutes of incision. 35 For caesarean sections, evidence supports antimicrobial prophylaxis before cord clamping rather than afterwards.…”

“…For the majority of procedures, a first-generation cephalosporin, such as cefazolin, remains the preferred antimicrobial for prophylaxis. 3,14,18 Uptake of this recommendation was shown across current Australian practice in the 2016 Surgical National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey, with cefazolin being the most commonly prescribed antimicrobial for procedural (69%) and post-procedural prophylaxis (57%). However, 50% of the post-procedural cefazolin prescribing was deemed inappropriate.…”

“…3,14 This dose may be influenced by patient-related risk factors such as age, renal function and weight.…”

“…14 Appropriate timing of antimicrobial administration is crucial to prevent effective surgical site infection.…”

CUA Guidelines on antibiotic prophylaxis for urologic procedures

“…27 Risk factors for post-procedural infections may include obesity, extremes of age, nutritional status, diabetes mellitus, immunosuppressive therapy or immunosuppressed state.…”