Perioperative mezlocillin prophylaxis in cesarean section.

One hundred thirteen patients were prospectively evaluated to determine the prophylactic effect of mezlocillin in women undergoing cesarean section. Subjects received 2 gm of mezlocillin or placebo intravenously 30 minutes before surgery and four and nine hours after surgery. All patients were evaluated for febrile morbidity and for the development of specific infections. The overall postoperative morbidity was reduced from 51% in the control group to 17% in the mezlocillin group (P less than 0.01). Separate analyses of morbidity in patients undergoing cesarean section after the onset of labor and those having the operation before the onset of labor showed the significant reduction of morbidity by mezlocillin to have occurred only in the former group.