The effect on total antimicrobial consumption and hospitalization time after prophylactic treatment with doxycycline in colorectal surgery.

The effect of routine antimicrobial prophylaxis on hospitalization and the total consumption of antimicrobials in colorectal surgery was evaluated in a prospective and controlled study, where the incidence of abdominal wound sepsis was significantly reduced from 41.6% in the control (n = 60) to 8.6% in the doxycycline group (n = 58). Concomitantly, the average number of postoperative hospital days decreased significantly from 23.4+/-17.9 to 16.4+/-8.2 (p less than 0.01). This difference was more prominent in cases with postoperative abdominal sepsis, where the average number was 35.8 days in the control and 22.8 days in the doxycycline group. In the latter group only 19% of the patients required antimicrobial therapy during the postoperative course, compared with 65% of the patients in the control group. The period of exposure to antimicrobials amounted to 48.3% (451 days) of the postoperative hospital stay in the doxycycline vs. 53.3% (747 days) in the control group. Thus, prophylaxis significantly reduced the rate of wound sepsis, the time of and the need for hospitalization, the total consumption of and the time of exposure to antimicrobials.