Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Appropriateness of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis for breast surgery procedures

  • Short Research Report
  • Published:
International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background Guidelines for the appropriate use of antibiotic prophylaxis are provided in the Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotics (eTG) in Australia. Inappropriate use of antibiotics is problematic. Objective To examine adherence with therapeutic guidelines (eTG) in breast surgery and trends in non-adherence dependent on the type of breast surgery performed. Setting Major Western Australian teaching hospital. Method A retrospective cross-sectional study reviewed a random sample of 150 from 1049 eligible medical records of patients who underwent a breast surgical procedure in 2013 or 2014. Main outcome measure Adherence to the eTG. Results Antibiotic prophylaxis was prescribed for 139 (92.7%) operations. Adherence to the eTG occurred in 20 (13.3%) operations, whilst 11 (7.3%) did not adhere to any element of the eTG. Appropriate timing was the main factor not adhered to. Postoperative antibiotics were prescribed following 35 (23.3%) operations, with 32 (91.4%) administered beyond 24 h. Length of stay was significantly different (p = 0.0036) between surgical groups. There was a tendency for risk of an infection to be decreased with adherence (odds ratio: 0.23; 95% CI: 0.05, 1.07; p = 0.06). Conclusion Adherence to the eTG was low (13.3%), despite a decreased risk of SSI when guidelines were followed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Barr S, Topps A, Barnes N, Henderson J, Hignett S, Teasdale R, et al. Infection prevention in breast implant surgery–A review of the surgical evidence, guidelines and a checklist. EJSO. 2016;42(5):591–603.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Acuna SA, Angarita FA, Escallon J, Tawil M, Torregrosa L. Determining the use of prophylactic antibiotics in breast cancer surgeries: a survey of practice. BMC Surg. 2012;12(1):1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bunn F, Jones DJ, Bell‐Syer S. Prophylactic antibiotics to prevent surgical site infection after breast cancer surgery. The Cochrane Library. 2012.

  4. Degnim AC, Scow JS, Hoskin TL, Miller JP, Loprinzi M, Boughey JC, et al. Randomized controlled trial to reduce bacterial colonization of surgical drains after breast and axillary operations. Ann Surg. 2013;258(2):240–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Cabaluna ND, Uy GB, Galicia RM, Cortez SC, Yray MDS, Buckley BS. A randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial of the routine use of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis in modified radical mastectomy. World J Surg. 2013;37(1):59–66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Habak JE, Varma S, Kiani M, Twaddle A, Emmerton LM. Prophylactic antibiotic use in breast cancer surgery patients. J Pharm Pract Res. 2013;43(2):101–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Testa M, Stillo M, Giacomelli S, Scoffone S, Argentero PA, Farina EC, et al. Appropriate use of antimicrobial prophylaxis: an observational study in 21 surgical wards. BMC Surg. 2015;15(1):1.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hecker MT, Aron DC, Patel NP, Lehmann MK, Donskey CJ. Unnecessary use of antimicrobials in hospitalized patients: current patterns of misuse with an emphasis on the antianaerobic spectrum of activity. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163(8):972–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Therapeutic Guidelines; Antibiotic Version 14. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. ISBN 978-0-9804764-7-7.

  10. Landes G, Harris PG, Lemaine V, Perreault I, Sampalis JS, Brutus J-P, et al. Prevention of surgical site infection and appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing habits in plastic surgery. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2008;61(11):1347–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the assistance of the medical records department of the research hospital for their support and assistance.

Funding

This study had no special source of funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia

    Smeem Jaber, Crystal Rogers, Bruce Sunderland, Richard Parsons & Petra Czarniak

  2. Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, WA, Australia

    Sarah MacKenzie & Jason Seet

Authors
  1. Smeem Jaber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Crystal Rogers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bruce Sunderland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard Parsons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sarah MacKenzie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jason Seet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Petra Czarniak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petra Czarniak.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jaber, S., Rogers, C., Sunderland, B. et al. Appropriateness of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis for breast surgery procedures. Int J Clin Pharm 39, 483–486 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-017-0434-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-017-0434-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation