Appropriate use of antimicrobial prophylaxis: an observational study in 21 surgical wards

BMC Surgery

Table 4 Frequency of antimicrobial prophylaxis-linked “errors” ^a

Type of error	Number of errors^a	Percent
Antimicrobial prophylaxis continuation	44	17.1
Antibiotic therapy re-start	25	9.7
Intra-operatory dose omission	20	7.8
“Wrong” molecule	19	7.4
Antimicrobial prophylaxis administered (without a reason) when not needed	16	6.2
Antimicrobial prophylaxis not administered (without a reason) when needed	7	2.7
Antimicrobial prophylaxis not administered (with insufficient reason) when needed	1	0.4
Un-necessary intra-operatory dose	0	0.0
Premature first dose administration	1	0.4
Late first dose administration	0	0.0
Total^b	133/257	51.8

“Wrong”: molecule is not included in hospital guidelines
^aDue to the high heterogeneity of antibiotic prophylaxis guide line published in recent years, and compatibly with the aim of the study, specific ward antibiotic prophylaxis protocols were accepted only when proven to be evidence based and if approved by ICC
^bTotal interventions = 257; multiple errors are possible for each intervention

ISSN: 1471-2482