The value of a single intravenous dose of metronidazole as prophylaxis against wound infection after appendicectomy.

131 patients from 158 appendicectomies were randomly divided before the operation into two groups: a single intravenous dose of metronidazole, and a physiological saline placebo group. The overall infection rate was 8.4%. In the non-perforated cases the infection rates were 3.4% in the metronidazole and 7.9% in the placebo group. In cases with perforated appendix the infection rate was 40%. There was no statistically significant difference in the infection rates between the groups. Our results give no clear indication of the benefit of metronidazole prophylaxis and we propose, therefore, to concentrate on the technical aspects of appendicectomy in infection prophylaxis.