Antimicrobial prophylaxis for adult surgical patients in a Pakistani teaching hospital

Abstract

Summary Objective To evaluate the compliance rate of Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) practices with guidelines among adult surgical patients. Method A cross-sectionalobservational study was conducted in a teaching hospital in Pakistan. A total of 235 surgical procedures were investigated during two-month study period through convenient sampling technique. Important data was collected from patients’ prescription records through specialized data collection form. The observed practices were compared with international evidence-based guidelines. Results Most of the surgical procedures belonged to general surgical wards (60%; n = 141). Clean surgical procedures were more important (51%; n = 120) when compared to clean-contaminated surgeries (49%; n = 115). The selection of antimicrobial was correct in 32% (n = 76), timing in 39.5% (n = 93), route and dose in 100% (n = 235) of the surgical cases. The selection and timing of SAP administration were more adhered with the guidelines in the urological ward as compared to orthopaedic and general surgical wards (P