Mezlocillin prophylaxis in biliary tract surgery. Results of a retrospective and a prospective trial.

We have evaluated the case histories of all patients who underwent surgery of the biliary tract in 1979. In that year every surgeon was able to administer antibiotics postoperatively whenever he considered it necessary. Of the 71 patients, 39% received postoperative antibiotic treatment. In 1980, 50 patients over the age of 50 received a 36-hour course of mezlocillin prophylaxis when they underwent surgery of the biliary tract, either as an elective or emergency operation. Only 8% of these patients required antibiotics postoperatively. In comparison to the 39% from 1979, this difference is highly significant statistically. This pilot study justifies further investigations to determine whether single-dose mezlocillin prophylaxis is able to reduce the incidence of infectious complications, the duration of the hospital stay and the total amount of antibiotics administered.