Antibiotic prophylaxis with cefotaxime in gastroduodenal and biliary surgery

In a multicenter prospective, randomized study, the efficacy of a single preoperative dose of 1 g of cefotaxime for avoiding wound infections was compared with four 2-g doses of cefoxitin. In the study, 1,451 patients with infection risk factors who underwent gastroduodenal or biliary surgery were included, of whom 722 received cefotaxime and 729 cefoxitin. The characteristics of both groups were comparable. The frequency of wound infections in the cefotaxime group was 3.3 percent and in the cefoxitin group, 7.6 percent. The difference was statistically significant. The lowest rate of wound infection (0.63 percent) was achieved when cefotaxime was administered during the last hour before surgery. In both groups, the frequency of infections was directly related to the duration of operation. Hospital stay was, on average, 3 days longer in patients with wound infections. After cost-benefit analysis, we have concluded that cefotaxime treatment results in substantial reduction of costs derived from antibiotic prophylaxis.