Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis and wound infection following breast surgery.

The effectiveness of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis against wound infections following breast surgery was investigated by meta-analysis of published data from a randomized clinical trial and an observational data set, which included a total of 2587 surgical procedures, including excisional biopsy, lumpectomy, mastectomy, reduction mammoplasty and axillary node dissection. There were 98 wound infections (3.8%). Prophylaxis was used for 44% (1141) of these procedures, cephalosporins accounted for 986 (86%) of these courses of antibiotics. Prophylaxis prevented 38% of infections, after controlling for operation type, duration of surgery and participation in the randomized trial (Mantel-Haenszel Odds Ratio = 0.62, 95% confidence interval = 0.40-0.95, P = 0.03). There was no significant variation in efficacy according to operation type or duration. We conclude that antibiotic prophylaxis significantly reduces the risk of postoperative wound infection following these commonly performed breast procedures.

Prophylaxis against wound infection following herniorrhaphy or breast surgery.

The effect of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis on definite wound infections was assessed for 3202 herniorrhaphies or selected breast surgery procedures. Patients were identified preoperatively and monitored for greater than or equal to 4 weeks. Thirty-four percent of patients (1077/3202) received prophylaxis at the discretion of the surgeon; 86 definite wound infections (2.7%) were identified. Prophylaxis recipients were at higher risk for infection, with a higher proportion of mastectomies, longer procedures, and other factors. Patients who received prophylaxis experienced 41% fewer definite wound infections (odds ratio [OR], 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35-0.99; P = .04) and 65% fewer definite wound infections requiring parenteral antibiotic therapy (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.15-0.88; P = .02) after adjustment for duration of surgery and type of procedure. Additional adjustment for age, body mass index, the presence of drains, diabetes, and exposure to corticosteroids did not change the magnitude of this effect meaningfully. The effect of prophylaxis was similar for all procedures studied. In the absence of formal guidelines, surgeons at these institutions administered prophylaxis preferentially to patients at highest risk.

Interchangeability of ceftizoxime and cefoxitin: a clinical perspective.

Ceftizoxime and cefoxitin, two parenteral broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotics, were compared in a prospective, randomized, double-blind study to determine if they are clinically equivalent in the treatment of infections of the urinary or respiratory tracts, the intra-abdominal cavity, or skin and skin structure. Since the pharmacokinetic properties of ceftizoxime permit less frequent dosing than cefoxitin and, in consequence, lower daily doses, a second objective was to compare the cost of intravenous use of these antibiotics in hospital practice. Patients were assigned at random to treatment with either 4 to 8 gm/day of cefoxitin or 2 to 4 gm/day of ceftizoxime. Within each treatment group, they were stratified according to the site of the infection. Cure rates were similar with ceftizoxime (96% of 134 patients) and cefoxitin (92% of 132 patients). There were no statistically significant differences with respect to site or severity of infection. An analysis of the cost of the drugs and the labor to administer them showed ceftizoxime to be less expensive ($263 to $389/day) than cefoxitin ($394 to $638/day).

Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis for herniorrhaphy and breast surgery.

We assessed the efficacy of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis for surgery in a randomized, double-blind trial of 1218 patients undergoing herniorrhaphy or surgery involving the breast, including excision of a breast mass, mastectomy, reduction mammoplasty, and axillary-node dissection. The prophylactic regimen was a single dose of cefonicid (1 g intravenously) administered approximately half an hour before surgery. The patients were followed up for four to six weeks after surgery. Blinding was maintained until the last patient completed the follow-up and all diagnoses of infection had been made. The patients who received prophylaxis had 48 percent fewer probable or definite infections than those who did not (Mantel-Haenszel risk ratio, 0.52; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.32 to 0.84; P = 0.01). For patients undergoing a procedure involving the breast, infection occurred in 6.6 percent of the cefonicid recipients (20 of 303) and 12.2 percent of the placebo recipients (37 of 303); for those undergoing herniorrhaphy, infection occurred in 2.3 percent of the cefonicid recipients (7 of 301) and 4.2 percent of the placebo recipients (13 of 311). There were comparable reductions in the numbers of definite wound infections (Mantel-Haenszel risk ratio, 0.49), wounds that drained pus (risk ratio, 0.43), Staphylococcus aureus wound isolates (risk ratio, 0.49), and urinary tract infections (risk ratio, 0.40). There were also comparable reductions in the need for postoperative antibiotic therapy, non-routine visits to a physician for problems involving wound healing, incision and drainage procedures, and readmission because of problems with wound healing. We conclude that perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis with cefonicid is useful for herniorrhaphy and certain types of breast surgery.

Coagulopathy associated with extended-spectrum cephalosporins in patients with serious infections.

Patients enrolled in two double-blind multicenter studies were evaluated for the development of hypoprothrombinemia during treatment with cephalosporins. Patients with pneumonia or peritonitis received ceftizoxime, cefotaxime, or moxalactam. The incidence of hypoprothrombinemia was greater in patients with peritonitis (12 of 49) than in those with pneumonia (5 of 96; P less than 0.05). Overall, moxalactam was associated with a higher incidence of hypoprothrombinemia (13 of 52) than either ceftizoxime (1 of 43; P less than 0.05) or cefotaxime (3 of 50; P less than 0.05), and moxalactam patients incurred the highest average increase in prothrombin time (3.7 s) as compared with either ceftizoxime (0.5 s; P less than 0.05) or cefotaxime (0.9 s; P less than 0.05) patients. The occurrence of hypoprothrombinemia in moxalactam patients with peritonitis was not related to dosage, duration of therapy, age, sex, race, or renal or hepatic function. The degree of ileus was, however, strongly related to the development of coagulopathy in moxalactam-treated patients only.

Clinical efficacy of cefonicid in the treatment of staphylococcal infections.

Cefonicid is a parenteral cephalosporin with a half-life of 4.5 hours, which permits once-daily dosing. The efficacy of cefonicid in the treatment of established staphylococcal infections was reviewed in all patients with infections due to staphylococci who were treated with cefonicid during the US clinical development program. Two hundred evaluable cases were identified, of which 95 had other pathogens as well. Cefonicid was clinically effective in 92% of skin and soft tissue infections, 74% of bone and joint infections, 83% of respiratory tract infections, and 95% of urinary tract infections. None of the three evaluable patients with Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis responded to cefonicid. Thus, based on current evidence, cefonicid is not effective in the treatment of established staphylococcal endocarditis. However, for the treatment of staphylococcal infections at other sites, cefonicid is comparable to other cephalosporins, most of which must be administered more frequently than cefonicid and thus are less cost-effective.