‘Surgeons need to improve’: High rates of poor antibiotic use
Failure to time dose before procedure and continuing too long after are the issues: Aussie study
Surgeons are missing the mark around half the time when giving antibiotics, Australian researchers say.
Overall, surgeons prescribe antibiotics according to guidelines in 49% of cases, falling down in particular over delivering the medications on time before procedures.
They also prescribe the medications for too long post-surgery, which is indicated for only 24 hours if at all, the study shows.
“High rates of inappropriate procedural and post-procedural antimicrobial use were demonstrated across all surgical specialties,” the authors write in JAMA Network Open.
