[Antibiotic prevention and occurrence of wound infections in heart surgery and vascular surgery].

Post-operative wound infections are serious complications in cardiovascular surgery. In order to examine the routines for prophylactic antibiotics and frequency of wound infections, questionnaires were sent to heart and vascular surgery units in Norway. In heart surgery, the sternal wound infection rate registered during stay in hospital varied between 0-1.2%. Seven clinics used cephalothin prophylaxis and one cloxacillin and penicillin. One clinic added vancomycin in the case of valvular surgery. The duration of prophylaxis varied from six hours to four days. In vascular surgery, superficial wound infection rates of 1.5-4.0%, and deep infection rates of 0.8-2.0%, were reported. Seven clinics used cephalothin and three cefuroxime as prophylaxis. The duration of prophylaxis varied from one single dose to several days. In conclusion, the reported infection rates indicate that the antibiotic prophylaxis regimens used help to provide satisfactory protection against wound infections.