Antibiotic prophylaxis for gynecologic cancer surgery

The use of prophylactic antibiotics in elective gynecologic cancer surgery is essential. We aimed to establish the optimal duration of antibiotic administration to reduce the overuse of antibiotics in gynecologic cancer surgery.

We conducted a retrospective study based on the descriptive and statistical analysis of the clinical records of patients who underwent a radical hysterectomy or staging operation for gynecologic cancer between January 2014 and October 2015 at Busan Paik Hospital. Postoperative outcomes, such as surgical site infection (SSI), urinary tract infection (UTI), length of hospital stay, duration of urinary catheterization, and duration of surgical drainage, were compared between the antibiotic prophylaxis for 1-day and greater than 1-day groups.

A total of 139 patients were included in the study. There were 79 patients in the 1-day group (56.8%) and 60 patients in the >1-day (43.2%) group. The two groups were similar in terms of demographics, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, stage, surgical approach, and type of operation. Blood loss was smaller in the 1-day group than in the >1-day group (582.2 ± 278.3 cc vs. 795.9 ± 617.9 cc, P = 0.007). The average length of hospital stay was shorter in the 1-day group than in the >1-day group (10.8 ± 2.7 days vs. 11.8 ± 2.8 days, P = 0.039). The rate of SSI and UTI was not significantly different between the 1-day and >1-day groups (6.3% vs. 8.2% and 11.4% vs. 6.7%, respectively [P = 0.903 and P = 0.393]).

One-day first generation cephalosporin administration is appropriate for preventing post-surgical complications such as wound infections, UTIs, and vaginal cuff cellulitis in gynecologic cancer surgery.