Appropriate Use of Prophylactic Antibiotic Agents in Gynecologic Surgeries at a Midwestern Teaching Hospital

The purpose of this study was to establish compliance with guidelines published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) regarding prophylactic antibiotic use in gynecologic surgery at our institution, and define areas of improvement to promote antibiotic stewardship.

This was a retrospective cohort study at a single, large tertiary care and teaching hospital in Kansas. Patients who underwent inpatient or outpatient gynecologic surgery during 2013 were included. Based on published guidelines for prophylactic antibiotic agents for gynecologic surgery by ACOG, procedures were classified as antibiotic-indicated or antibiotic-not-indicated. Chi-square and Fisher exact test analysis were used to identify factors associated with antibiotic use.

Of the 1,735 cases eligible for inclusion, 1,045 (60.2%) had antibiotic agents recommended per guidelines, and appropriate antibiotic agents were given in 1,031 (98.7%) of those cases. In 690 (39.8%) cases, prophylactic antibiotics were either not recommended or the guidelines are not well defined. Of the 690 cases without indication for antibiotic agents, 394 (57.1%) received prophylactic antibiotic agents. Agreement with guidelines varied substantially based on patient age, race, insurance status, area of residence, and if the procedure was a resident case (p < 0.05). Myomectomy, laparoscopy, and ectopic pregnancy procedures received antibiotic agents against recommendations 96.3%, 75.6%, and 45.5% of the time, respectively.

Peri-operative antibiotics are often administered inappropriately to women undergoing gynecologic surgeries for which published guidelines are not well defined. Future studies need to identify strategies to reduce antibiotic use in surgical procedures unlikely to benefit from prophylaxis.