Single-dose cefodizime as infection prophylaxis in abdominal surgery: a prospective multicenter study.

This prospective pilot study was performed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a single dose of cefodizime as infection prophylaxis in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. One hundred forty-nine patients received 2g cefodizime, a third-generation cephalosporin, 30 min before abdominal surgery. The mean operation time was 116 +/- 66 min. Eighteen patients received metronidazole additionally. In 8/149 patients (5.4%) the final outcome was considered to be a treatment failure. 94.6% of the patients had no signs of infection. The long half-life of cefodizime allows a single-dose perioperative prophylaxis even in abdominal surgery lasting 3 to 4 h. Cefodizime can be regarded as a safe antibiotic prophylaxis with few side effects.