ANTIMICROBIAL STEWARDSHIP: ASYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO COBACT ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN SURGICAL PROPHYLAXIS

Abstract

Antibiotic prophylaxis is used to decrease the bacterial load in the wound to assist the natural host defenses in preventing the occurrence of surgical site infections. The present study aimed to investigate trends in using antibiotic prophylaxis in the surgical ward of a tertiary hospital and included collecting data concerning the use of antibiotic prophylaxis from medical electronic records. During 2022, most of the surgical patients received the most prescribed antibiotics were Ceftrixone (26.37%) and Cefixime/ amikacin (26.37%). The present study showed that there was a major problem in selecting the correct antibiotic and in the duration of its use compared with the recommendations of the surgical prophylaxis guideline that was issued by the Saudi Ministry of Health. Thus, there is an urgent need to improve the adherence to the recommendations of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines in order to reduce the occurrence of negative consequences.