Collagen tampons as aminoglycoside carriers to reduce postoperative infection rate in prosthetic repair of groin hernias.

OBJECTIVE

To find out whether collagen tampons treated with gentamicin would prevent postoperative infections in patients operated on for groin hernias by insertion of prostheses.

SETTING

University hospital, Italy.

DESIGN

Prospective randomised trial.

PATIENTS

595 patients who required prosthetic repair of a groin hernia.

INTERVENTIONS

All repairs were by our standard surgical technique including prophylactic ceftriaxone, local anaesthesia, and insertion of a polypropylene mesh. 301 patients also had a gentamicin laced collagen tampon placed in front of the prosthetic mesh before the aponeurosis of external oblique muscle was sutured.

RESULTS

1/301 patients in the gentamicin group (0.3%) developed a postoperative wound infection compared with 6/294 in the control group (2.0%), (p = 0.04 Fisher exact test).

CONCLUSIONS

Gentamicin-laced collagen tampons are effective in reducing the postoperative infection rate in patients operated on for groin hernia by insertion of a prosthesis.