Administering antibiotic-loaded irrigation fluid as an alternative for prophylactic intravenous antibiotics in...

Prophylactic antibiotics are commonly used to prevent infections and complications during surgeries. In this study inflammatory responses and infectious complications after utilizing antibiotic-loaded irrigation compared with intravenous (IV) prophylactic antibiotics. Eighty-eight participants with ureteral stones enrolled in this prospective randomized controlled trial. Participants were allocated into two groups, namely "standard" with 45 participants, and "antibiotic-loaded" with 43 participants. The "standard" group received standard normal saline irrigation with 1 gram of IV ceftriaxone 30 minutes before in transurethral ureterolithotripsy (TUL), while the "antibiotic-loaded" group received ceftriaxone-added irrigation fluid and did not receive any IV antibiotics. The laboratory tests, including Complete Blood Count (CBC), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), venous blood gas (VBG), IL-6, creatinine, sodium, potassium, SIRS score, and urine culture were recorded. The continuous variables are described using either mean (standard deviation (SD)) or median (interquartile range (IQR)) and the t-test and Mann-Whitney test are used to infer them. The discrete variables are reported as numbers (percentages) and the Chi-squared test is applied to them. Statistical analyses were performed by the SPSS software (V.26, IBM) with a considering significance criterion of 0.05. Statistically differences were not found in postoperative inflammatory and infectious complications among the two groups (P>0.05) including SIRS score (P=0.385), WBC (P=0.589), IL-6 (P=0.365), ESR (P=0.171), CRP (P=0.279), Platelet (P=0.501), positive urine culture (P=0.922), and post-operative fever (P=0.162). Administering antibiotic-loaded irrigation fluid was as safe and effective as IV ceftriaxone in TUL and could be a reasonable alternative for IV antibiotics.