Utilization assessment of antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgical patients at tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) includes all postoperative infections occurring at surgical sites. It is one of the most common causes of the morbidity and mortality in postoperative patients. Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) is a brief course of an anti-microbial agent for the prevention of SSI. Judicious use of antibiotics can decrease the morbidity associated with SSI, but inappropriate antibiotic use leads to antibiotic resistance. Aims and Objectives: Inappropriate use of antibiotics is still rampant, and the present study was planned to assess the prophylactic antibiotic usage in the surgery department. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 200 patients in the Department of General Surgery, MMIMSR, Mullana, Haryana, with prior approval from the Institutional Ethical Committee. Results: Out of 200 patients, 193 received intravenous preoperative antimicrobial dose on the day of surgery. Most commonly prescribed group was the third-generation cephalosporin (61%). Fixed-dose combinations were also frequently used, among them piperacillin-tazobactam (20.5%) was the most common combination used. Average duration of postoperative prophylactic antimicrobial administration was 8.23 days. Conclusion: This study showed antibiotics were used as prophylactic in almost every patient. Still, many patients do suffer from SSI as average duration of antibiotic usage is around 8 days. To combat inappropriate antibiotic usage, there is need to make the SAP guidelines and to adhere to these guidelines.