[Antibiotic prophylaxis in surgery for colorectal cancer]

The prophylactic use of antibiotics in the purpose of decreasing the frequency and severity of surgical infections is still controversial. The practical need of defining the concept of antibiotic prophylaxis gave rise to numerous polemics in the literature. This paper presents a retrospective study on 103 cases whom diagnostics were colon and rectum cancer, that were operated in the IV-th Surgical Clinic in 1993-2002 period; at these patients was done antibiotic prophylaxis local and systemic before, during and after operating. This method made possible the registration of a minimum number of cases with surgical infection (7 cases, representing only 7% of the operated patients): a case (1%) with peritoneal collection (needing the surgical evacuation of this collection) and in 6 cases, parietal superficial infections, which imposed the prolong of drainage for almost 7 days. Starting from the basic principles of antibiotic therapy, this paper aims at outlining practical guidelines for a judicious antibiotic prophylaxis.