Antibiotic Prophylaxis Does Not Increase Risk of Drug-Resistant Infections

Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) is not associated with postoperative antibiotic resistance, according to the results of a recent study.

Although SAP lowers the risk of overall infection, whether it affects risk for antibiotic-resistant infections is not fully understood.
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To explore this issue, researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study including adults who underwent elective surgical procedures and developed infections within 30 days. SAP included the use of any antibiotics at any dose from 1 hour before surgery to the end of the operation.

Overall, of the 689 adults with postoperative infections, 338 (49%) had resistant infections. The use of SAP was not shown to be associated with postoperative antibiotic-resistant infections (odds ratio [OR] 0.99).

“Use of SAP was not associated with risk for postoperative antibiotic-resistant infections in a large cohort of patients with postoperative infections. This provides important reassurance regarding use of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Cohen ME, Salmasian H, Li J, et al. Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis and risk for postoperative antibiotic-resistant infections [published online October 10, 2017]. JACS. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2017.08.010.