Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite the effectiveness of prophylactic antimicrobials to prevent surgical site infection the use of antibiotic prophylaxis is often inappropriate. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to determine the pattern of prophylactic antibiotic use in a teaching hospital affiliated to Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The current descriptive study included 8586 patients who received prophylactic antibiotics before surgery from April 2011 to March 2012, in Razi Hospital affiliated to Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Indications for antibiotic use, proper or inappropriate antibiotics, an antibiotic or combination of antibiotics, dosage and length of treatment for each patient based on the infectious disease textbook (Mandel's Principle and practice of infectious diseases) definitions were administrated. RESULTS: Of the total 8586 patients who took antibiotics for preventive purposes, 4815 (56%) required antimicrobial prophylaxis, and 3771 (44%) patients did not. Of the 4815 patients who received prophylaxis, 86.9% received it appropriately, 13.1% received it inappropriately; 8.2% received inappropriate dosage, and 9.5% received antibiotic longer than 24 hours. CONCLUSIONS: The current study revealed that 44% of those who received prophylaxis did not need it. In the patients who received antibiotics, the most common mistakes were antibiotic selection followed by prolonged prophylaxis (> 24 hours) and excess dose.