Effectiveness of cefotaxime in preventing surgical site infections in children under 8 years undergoing elective inguinal surgery at the university teaching hospitals, Lusaka, Zambia
Date
2021
Authors
Patel, Azad
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Inguinal operations are the most commonly performed surgeries in children. There is a divergent view on use of pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent surgical site infections (SSI) after these surgeries. The aim of this study was to detect if the use of cefotaxime had a significant impact on prevention of SSI in children under 8 years undergoing elective inguinal surgery at the University Teaching Hospitals, Lusaka.
This was a cohort study. A total of 170 patients below 8 years of age undergoing elective inguinal herniotomy, orchidopexy or patent processus vaginalis (PPV) ligation at UTHs were enrolled. 85 of these received pre-operative cefotaxime while 85 did not receive any antibiotics based on surgeons preference. A data collection sheet was used to record pre-operative demographic details. Intraoperative variables and post-operative outcomes. No patient received post-operative antibiotics. Follow up to look for Surgical site infection was done at 2 weeks and 30 days according to Center for Disease Control (CDC) definition of SSI.
Out of 170 patients, 11(6.47%) had SSI. Six of the 85 that received surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) had SSI while 5 of the 85 that did not receive SAP had SSI (P=0.551). Deep SSI were seen in 2 patients that did not receive SAP (p=0.155) and grew Staphylococcus aureus in their cultures. Only 1 adverse allergic reaction to preoperative antibiotics was noted.
Despite a low risk of adverse reactions, there is no benefit of using pre-operative antibiotics to prevent SSI in children undergoing elective inguinal surgery.
Keywords:
Surgical site infections, Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis, Inguinal surgery, PPV ligation, Herniotomy, Orchidopexy
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Surgical site infections. , Surgery, Operative--Handbooks, manuals, etc. , Inguinal lymphadenectomy. , Inguinal surgery.