Abstract

The use of antibiotics to prevent infections at the surgical site is known as the surgical prophylaxis. Appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis can reduce the risk of wound infections after surgery, but additional antibiotic use also increases the selective pressure favoring the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. A prospective and observational study was carried out on 200 post-operative inpatients for a period of 6 months. A total of 200 patients were included in the study in which 83(59%) male and 117(41%) female. The total numbers of antibiotics used were 420 in which 37.1% of third generation cephalosporin and 31.4% of metronidazole were used. In the study five different combinations of antibiotics were prescribed. The most common surgery performed was appendectomy. The number of antibiotics per prescription on average basis was found to be 3.92 and the mean duration of days the antibiotics given to the patients was found to be 3.16 days during their stay in the hospital. The study concludes that most common use of cephalosporins and metronidazole seems to be effective in reducing the surgical site infection and other complications. Patients in surgical wards develop infections post-surgery; many of the infections are caused by bacteria that are highly virulent. As a result there is a need for prophylactic or empirical treatment with antibiotics that can cover broad spectrum of pathogens.