ABSTRACT
Background: Rampant antibiotic use brought about its own set of problems like the rise in incidence of antibiotic resistant strains, allergies and other complications of antibiotic use. Unfortunately, in many of our set ups we are still stuck in prolonged post-operative antibiotic regimes. This study aims to fill those lacunae and thereby aid our gradual shift away from over reliance on prolonged antibiotic usage in prevention of surgical site infection (SSI). Hence, we decided to investigate the efficacy of the use of a single prophylactic intravenous dose of antibiotic vis a vis multiple doses in reducing post-operative infective morbidity in caesarean sections. Methodology:The study included 200 patients at term, satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, reporting to the labour room and undergoing caesarean section. The patients were then divided into two groups of 100 each by simple randomization. Patients in Group Awere given a single dose IVantibiotics 30 minutes before the skin incision and Group B cases were given the first dose of IVantibiotics 30 minutes before the skin incision and continued for next 2 days, after that patient received oral antibiotics for next 3 days. Results: The present study did not show any significant difference in the post-operative infection incidence between the single dose and multiple dose schedule. Conclusion: Our study noted, there was no difference in the outcome as regards post-operative infectious morbidity in patients of both the groups. Hence, based on the findings of our study we conclude that single dose prophylactic antibiotic should be the norm for caesarean sections.