Short course netilmicin prophylaxis in renal stone surgery.

Following surgery for the removal of intrarenal calculi 30% of patients will develop severe wound complications. This study assesses the role of a short course of netilmicin given over the operative period, in 20 consecutive patients. Preoperative studies demonstrated that whilst 20% of patients had bacterial growth in the urine, culture of the removed calculus demonstrated that 50% of the stones exhibited a significant bacterial growth. Of the 20 patients, only one developed a wound complication. Following the preoperative dose, satisfactory netilmicin levels were obtained and no patient had levels greater than 1 microgram ml-1 by 7 h. Despite some degree of renal impairment, serum urea and creatinine values were unaffected.