Evaluation of the Improvement of Cephems on the Prophylaxis of Pelvic Infection after Radical Hysterectomy

Abstract

Antibiotics, especially cephems, have been improved remarkably in the last 20 years. In order to evaluate the improvement of antibiotics used for the prophylaxis of infections after radical hysterectomy, two groups of patients (group A, 1978–1979, n = 54; group B, 1985–1987, n = 55) were examined in regard to bacteriological and clinical effects. In spite of the improvement of antibiotics, the positive rate of bacteriological analysis had increased from 44.4 to 76.4%. Obvious decrease of gram-negative bacilli and increase of gram-positive cocci (GPC), e.g. Enterococcus, were observed. In contrast, fever index and febrile morbidity of group B decreased significantly more than those of group A. These results indicate that the improvement of antibiotics has brought more effective prophylaxis in the postoperative infection in spite of the high positive rate of GPC.

Comparison of the Results of Radical Hysterectomy: Sequential Observations in Each Period

“…We used the first-generation cephem antibiotic as the first choice for radical hysterectomy with systematic lymphadenectomy between 1978 and 1979. However, since 1985, we have been using second-or third-generation cephem antibiotics (2).…”