Single-dose antimicrobial prophylaxis in open heart surgery.

A single one-gram pre-operative dose of ceftriaxone was compared with seven one-gram doses of cefazolin administered peri-operatively with the aim of preventing infections associated with coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Ninety-four evaluable cases were analyzed; 49 patients received ceftriaxone and 45 received cefazolin. There was no significant difference in the number of infectious complications between the two groups. Ceftriaxone had a terminal half-life of approximately 15.7 hours. There was no toxicity associated with either antibiotic. Because of the reduced number of doses, single-dose prophylaxis may result in considerable savings. Single-dose prophylaxis with ceftriaxone was found to be an effective modality for prevention of infection in open heart surgery.