Impact of Oral Antibiotic Prophylaxis on Surgical Site Infection After Rectal Surgery: Randomized Controlled Trial

AIM: to evaluate the efficacy of preoperative oral antibiotics in reduction of surgical site infection (SSI) in rectal surgery. METHODS: patients undergoing rectal resection were assigned randomly to 2 groups: control (standard preoperative care and intravenous injection of 3d generation cephalosporin) and oral antibiotics group (the above was complemented by three-knit oral metronidazole 500 mg and erythromycin 500 mg after beginning of mechanical bowel cleansing at 5.00, 8.00 and 10.00 p.m.). The primary endpoint was the overall rate of SSI. RESULTS: between November 2017 and October 2018, 104 patients (48 in the oral antibiotics group and 56 in control group) were enrolled for this study. The incidence of SSIs was 19.6% (11/56) in control group and 4.1% (2/48) in the oral antibiotics group(р=0.01). Both groups had no statistically significant differences in intensity of SSIs and rate of anastomotic leakage. CONCLUSION: preoperative oral antibiotic significantly reduced the risk of SSIs following rectal surgery. The study needs to be continued for evaluation of preoperative oral antibiotics impact to intensity of SSIs and rate of anastomotic leakage.