Duration of antibiotic treatment in surgical infections of the abdomen. Antibiotics and the gut.

The inflammatory response of the body to a variety of insults is indistinguishable from that to infection. Antibiotics are neither innocuous nor are they a substitute for correct surgical management. In this paper we stress the side effects of antibiotics particularly affecting the gut and, by means of patient stratification, propose a goal oriented approach to antibiotic use, in conjunction with basic surgical strategies, for the management of intra-abdominal infection.