Risk factor for inappropriate use of prophylactic antibiotics in inguinal hernia repair surgery

There are some complications that can arise after surgery, like surgical site infection (SSI). In hernia repair, SSI incidence is low. Hence, the clinical practice guideline (CPG) published by the HerniaSurge Group (THG) does not recommend prophylactic antibiotics for hernia repair. Despite the unnecessary use of prophylactic antibiotics, regarding patient safety, prophylactic antibiotics can be used. However, each hospital has its own CPG and recommended antimicrobials based on the infection cases in its site. Regarding antimicrobial resistances, evaluating prophylactic antibiotics is essential to prevent increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance cases. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of prophylactic antibiotics in hernia inguinal cases.

This cross-sectional analytic study used patients' medical records between 2015 to 2020. Demographic data, surgery data and the used antimicrobial data were extracted and written in case report form. Identification of risk factors for inappropriate use of prophylactic antibiotics was done using logistic regression.

We identified 55 inappropriate times of preoperative prophylactic antibiotic therapy cases out of 80 cases and 63 cases in post-operative antibiotics were different from the guideline. Statistical analysis did not find any factor related to inappropriate therapy time.

The misuse of prophylactic antibiotics was frequently found regarding the duration of prophylactic antibiotics in both pre- and post-surgery setting. Nonetheless, no risk factor was identified with the inappropriate use of prophylactic antibiotics.