Single-dose parenteral antibiotic prophylaxis in gastrointestinal surgery.

In the course of two consecutive, double-blind and prospective studies, the authors evaluated the prophylactic effect of a single peroperative intravenous dose of gentamicin (this study included 166 patients) or the combination gentamicin and clindamycin (this study included 127 patients), on the wound infection rate following interventions involving the incision of an abdominal hollow viscus. Antibiotic prophylaxis lowered the post-operative wound sepsis rate, especially following clinically contaminated interventions, but this reduction did not reach statistical significance. It is concluded that a single peroperative parenteral dose of antibiotics does not constitute an entirely satisfactory means of wound infection prophylaxis in digestive surgery.