Prophylactic Antimicrobial Drugs in Surgery

MANY studies have assessed the value of prophylactic chemotherapy in the prevention of surgical wound infections.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Most of these have indicated that there has been no beneficial effect, and some have suggested that surgical sepsis has actually been increased by such measures. In 1964, Bernard and Cole10 reported a controlled study of a regimen that impressively reduced infection rates in patients undergoing surgery of the alimentary tract. Their technic involved administration of a mixture of antimicrobial drugs in only 3 doses, shortly before, during and after surgery. The present investigation was conducted largely because of their reported promising results, with . . .