Antibiotic prophylaxis

Antibiotic prophylaxis refers to, for humans, the prevention of infection complications using antimicrobial therapy (most commonly antibiotics). Antibiotic prophylaxis in domestic animal feed mixes has been employed in America since at least 1970.

Antibiotic prophylaxis is most commonly used prior to dental surgery, but may be used in other cases, such as prior to sexual intercourse for patients who suffer from recurrent urinary tract infections. Even when sterile techniques are adhered to, surgical procedures can introduce bacteria and other microbes in the blood (causing bacteremia), which can colonize and infect different parts of the body. An estimated 5 to 10 percent of hospitalized patients undergoing otolaryngology ("head and neck") surgery acquire a nosocomial ("hospital") infection, which adds a substantial cost and an average of 4 extra days to the hospital stay. Antibiotics can be effective in reducing the occurrence of such infections. Patients should be selected for prophylaxis if the medical condition or the surgical procedure is associated with a considerable risk of infection or if a postoperative infection would pose a serious hazard to the patient's recovery and well being. Antibiotic prophylaxis is also commonly used to prevent respiratory tract infections in antibody deficient patients.

Local wound infections (superficial or deep sided), urinary tract infections (caused by a bladder catheter inserted for surgery), and pneumonia (due to impaired breathing/coughing, caused by sedation and analgesics during the first few hours of recovery) may endanger the health of patients after surgery. Visibly worse are postoperative bacterial infections at the site of implanted foreign bodies (sutures, osteosynthetic material, joint replacements, pacemaker implants, etc.) Often, the outcome of the procedure may be put into question and the life of the patient may even be put at risk. Worldwide experience with antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgery has proven to be effective and cost efficient, both avoiding severe patient suffering while saving lives (provided the appropriate antibiotics have been carefully chosen and used to the best of current medical knowledge).

A proper regimen of antibiotics for perioperative prophylaxis of septic complications decreases the total amount of antimicrobials needed and eases the burden on hospitals. The choice of antibiotics should be made according to data on pharmacology, microbiology, clinical experience and economy. Drugs should be selected with a reasonable spectrum of activity against pathogens likely to be encountered, and antibiotics should be chosen with kinetics that will ensure adequate serum and tissue levels throughout the risk period. Depending on the type of surgery and anticipated contamination associated with it, combinations of different agents or different routes of administration (e. g. intravenous and oral antibiotics) might be beneficial in reducing perioperative adverse events. For prophylaxis in surgery, only antibiotics with good tolerability should be used. Cephalosporins remain the preferred drugs for perioperative prophylaxis due to their low toxicity. Parenteral systemic antibiotics seem to be more appropriate than oral or topical antibiotics because the chosen antibiotics must reach high concentrations at all sites of danger. It is well recognized that broad spectrum antibiotics are more likely to prevent gram negative sepsis. New data demonstrate that third generation cephalosporins are more effective than first and second generation cephalosporins if all perioperative infectious complications are taken into consideration. Dermatologic surgeons commonly use antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent bacterial endocarditis. Based on previous studies, though, the risk of endocarditis following cutaneous surgery is low and thus the use of antibiotic prophylaxis is controversial. Although this practice is appropriate for high risk patients when skin is contaminated, it is not recommended for noneroded, noninfected skin. There are many factors that affect physicians' compliance with guideline recommendations, including cultural factors, educational background, training, nurse and pharmacist influences, medication supply, and logistics. The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends antibiotic prophylaxis for few people since only a small number of cases of endocarditis might be caused by dental procedures.

The American Heart Association (AHA) now recommends antibiotic prophylaxis for very few patients since only a small number of cases of endocarditis might be prevented by this procedure.

Antibiotic prophylaxis in domestic animal feed mixes has been employed in America since at least 1970. The European Union regulated in 2006 against antibiotics for growth promotion purposes. The WHO warned in April 2014 that farm use was a contributor to superbugs in humans. A veterinarian said that ""If you don't put (antibiotics) in the feed, and you wait until you get an outbreak of necrotic enteritis, you've got a lot of dead birds and you've lost a lot of money." However, concerns were raised by the Chief Veterinarian of Ontario that "In other jurisdictions, they've found that, the drugs are not used for growth promotion, wink, wink, they're used for disease prevention." As of 2016, Health Canada had approved for employment in cattle three natural hormones and three synthetic hormones.