Assessment of antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgical procedures in a tertiary care hospital in Southern India: A cross-sectional study

Context: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the second-most common cause of health care-associated infections and are responsible for postoperative illness leading to increased morbidity and mortality. There are various preventive strategies against SSIs such as proper surgical technique, strict asepsis in the operating theater, control of infection within the hospital or general practice, and antibiotic prophylaxis. Widespread use of prophylactic antibiotics has the disadvantage of the emergence of multiresistant organisms. Thus, the implementation of proper surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) practice is highly recommended to assess the pattern of SAP practiced in a tertiary care hospital in southern India. Subjects and Methods: A prospective, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital where data were collected from 175 inpatients admitted to the surgical ward. The pattern of SAP practice was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The pattern of antibiotic prophylaxis revealed that the most commonly used agents were third-generation cephalosporins (57.71%), followed by broad-spectrum penicillins (18.86%), second-generation cephalosporins (13.71%), fluoroquinolones (4.57%), and antiamebic drugs (13.14%) mainly for gastrointestinal surgeries. Conclusions: Assessing the pattern of antimicrobial prophylaxis will help us to determine the appropriateness of the drugs prescribed with respect to the procedure and will help us to give feedback to the clinician and policymakers regarding the need for improvement in case of deviation in the practice compared to the guidelines given in the hospital antibiotic policy.