Rationale for prophylactic antibiotics and neurosurgery.

A program of antimicrobial prophylaxis for neurosurgical patients was implemented at three community hospitals after review of the previously recorded cases of postoperative sepsis and the antibiotic sensitivity of the prevailing pathogen, Staphylococcus. No primary wound infections occurred in a series of 1000 consecutive operations. The rational basis for prophylactic antibiotics is discussed.