Prophylactic antibiotics at caesarean section do not reduce costs.

A prospective audit of 200 patients was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotics at caesarean section in reducing the cost of postnatal care. The main outcome measures were the cost-effectiveness of this treatment in reducing the cost of care and incidence of infection. The results show that the routine administration of prophylactic antibiotics had no significant effect on infection rates, the prescribing of puerperal antibiotics or the duration of stay in the postnatal period. The total cost of antibiotics in the prophylaxis group was over four times that in the non-prophylaxis group. The results of this study suggest that routine administration of antibiotics at caesarean section does not reduce the costs of care in the puerperium.