A retrospective study on the efficacy of short-term perioperative prophylaxis in abdominal surgery for hernia repair in 1,254 patients.

Between 1992 and 1999 1,254 patients requiring hernioplasty came to our Department of Surgery, at San Giovanni Valdarno Hospital, Arezzo. In 94% of cases a prosthetic device was inserted. All patients received a preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis with ceftriaxone, administered intravenously in a single 2 g dose, before surgery. We have retrospectively evaluated the incidence of postoperative infections in these patients: no surgical wound infection occurred, while we observed 10 cases of systemic infections, 5 respiratory tract infections and 5 urinary tract infections, all of which were successfully treated with antibiotics. Tolerability was good: no adverse reaction to ceftriaxone was observed. In this retrospective study ceftriaxone was shown to be effective in preventing the onset of postoperative infections.