Effects of antibiotics on prevention of infection in contaminated abdominal operations

A prospective study was undertaken on 102 patients with massice intraperitoneal contamination from traumatic or spontaneous perforation of intestinal or pancreaticobiliary tract to determine the effects of combined systemic and intraperitoneal antibiotic administration on the prevention of the postoperative sepsis, intra-abdominal abscess formation and wound infection. Large doses of gentamicin and clindamycin were given parenterally before, during, and after the operation for five days. In addition, the peritoneal cavity and the abdominal incision were irrigated intraoperatively with antibiotic solution containing the same antibiotics. The drugs were given so as to provide a potent level of antibiotics during the operation and in the immediate postoperative period. The postoperative wound infection rate was 4 per cent, intra-abdominal abscess 2.9 per cent, sepsis 1 per cent, resulting in a total infectious complication rate of 7.9 per cent. This is a marked reduction in the incidence of infectious complications and compares favorably with the results from either parenteral or intraperitoneal therapy alone. Furthermore, no complications were encountered due to this method of therapy. These results do not indicate that antimicrobial drugs be given prophylactically to all surgical patients, but they strongly suggest the advantages of combined systemic and intraperitoneal antibiotics in the management of patients with massive intraperitoneal contamination.