Implementing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme to Improve Adherence to a Perioperative Prophylaxis Guideline

Abstract

Perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis is effective in reducing the rate of surgical site infections (SSIs); however, non-adherence to surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis protocols can lead to several negative outcomes. We performed a before-and-after intervention study with the aim of improving the process outcome, including adherence to guidelines. Another objective of this study was to investigate improvement in patient outcomes as a result of adherence to a surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis programme. The indicators of improved patient outcomes were a reduction in overall SSI rate and the decreased cost of antibiotics. SSI rate was calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of SSIs by the total number of surgeries and then multiplying the value obtained by 100%. The interventions implemented in the surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis programme included establishment of a guideline, educational sessions, and a monthly revision of prescriptions. Our findings show that implementation of the interventions resulted in reduced antibiotic consumption, a considerable decrease in the cost of prophylaxis, and a decrease in the incidence of SSIs.

Impact of antimicrobial stewardship interventions on days of therapy and guideline adherence: A comparative point-prevalence survey assessment

“…The presence of an effective hospital antimicrobial stewardship program could be attributed to the successful implementation of guidelines and antibiotics policies, in addition to the quality improvement initiative projects conducted by ASP core members. This is in line with multiple recent studies (15)(16)(17)(18)(19).…”

The role of community pharmacists and their perception towards antimicrobial stewardship in Baghdad, Iraq

“…Other studies conducted in Malaysia and Pakistan showed that community pharmacists agreed with the importance of AMS to improve patient care [16,18]. However, another study in Saudi Arabia indicated that the lack of internal policies and procedures and inadequate training were the biggest obstacles for AMS [22]. This study reported that most of the pharmacists agreed that AMS should be focused on the communitypharmacy level, and they also agreed that adequate training on antibiotics use and attending programs to improve understanding of AMS are needed.…”

Trends of research on antibiotic prophylaxis and surgical site infection: A bibliometric review based on VOS viewer by Scopus database

“…Another study showed that 82.40% of surgical patients were given prophylactic antibiotics of different types; the most widely used antibiotics were ceftriaxone at 28.44%, metronidazole at 26.36% and the rest were other types of antibiotics [21].…”