[The value of antibiotic prophylaxis during intrauterine procedures during vaginal delivery. A comparative study of 500 patients].

This comparative study carried out on 550 patients has made it possible for us to show how valuable prophylactic antibiotic therapy is when certain intra-uterine manipulations (such as forceps delivery, manual removal of the placenta or exploration of the cavity of the uterus) are carried out during vaginal delivery. Furthermore, we have been able to show that there are certain risk factors of which the most important are premature rupture of the membranes, infected liquor, birth weight of the infant less than 2,500 g and epidural analgesia. The financial study has shown that it is cheaper to use prophylactic antibiotics when the comparison is made with the cost of treating complications of infection associated with these intra-uterine procedures.