A comparison of the use of cephalothin and oxacillin in vascular surgery.

A randomized trial comparing two prophylactic antibiotics in vascular surgery was reviewed retrospectively. Two hundred thirty-two patients were given cephalothin sodium, and 168 patients were given oxacillin sodium. The overall incidence of wound infection was 1.5%; there was only one prosthetic graft infection in 346 patients in whom prosthetic material was used. There was no significant difference in wound infection between the groups. When postoperative infection in other areas was considered, however, it appeared that cephalothin was a more suitable antibiotic for treatment of these infections despite its use prophylactically. Although this trial was uncontrolled, the low overall incidence of wound and graft infection would appear to support the use of prophylactic antibiotics in vascular surgery.