Perioperative antibiotics in pediatric cardiac surgery: protocol for a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
• Infectious Disease Prevention
• Clinical Practice Guidelines

Background:

• Post-operative infections in pediatric cardiac surgery pose a significant clinical challenge, with incidence rates ranging from 1% to 20%.
• Current practices for perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis lack standardization regarding antibiotic choice and duration, leading to high practice variation.
• Increasing global rates of antibiotic-resistant organisms necessitate optimized infection prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review evidence on prophylactic antibiotic use in pediatric cardiac surgery.
• To identify optimal antibiotic types and durations for preventing surgical-site infections.
• To inform the development of evidence-based clinical guidelines.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive search of controlled observational studies and randomized controlled trials.
• Inclusion of data from major databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL) and scientific meetings.
• Duplicate independent data extraction, risk of bias assessment, and GRADE evaluation of evidence quality.

Main Results:

• This section will present findings from the systematic review, detailing effective prophylactic antibiotic strategies.
• Analysis will focus on infection rates, types of antibiotics used, and duration of administration.
• Evidence quality will be assessed to guide recommendations.

Conclusions:

• The systematic review will provide evidence to standardize prophylactic antibiotic use in pediatric cardiac surgery.
• Findings will support the creation of clinical guidelines to reduce surgical-site infections and combat antibiotic resistance.
• Dissemination through publications and conferences will promote adoption of best practices.