Duration, type of surgical prophylaxis linked to adverse events

Editor's Note

The risk of adverse events increases with each additional day of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis, and extended duration does not lead to additional surgical site infection (SSI) reductions, finds this study.

In this study of 79,058 patients having surgical procedures in the VA healthcare system, increasing the duration of surgical prophylaxis was not associated with additional reductions in SSIs but was associated with increases in acute kidney injury and Clostridium difficile infections.

The type of regimen also was an important aspect of postoperative adverse events, and Vancomycin was a significant risk factor for acute kidney injury.

These findings suggest that the routine practice of continuing antimicrobial prophylaxis after skin closure should be discontinued and highlights the fact that every day and every dose matters, the researchers say.