Summary
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis in small
animal surgery. Three hundred and twenty-nine dogs and 544 cats were included in a
prospective, randomised, blind trial to determine the frequency of wound infection
after clean and cleancontaminated surgical procedures. The animals were allocated
to one of two groups: group A received a placebo and group B received cefalexin. The
infection rate was measured in each group and correlated with different criteria (age,
duration and type of the operation, anaesthetic and Altemeier’s class, surgeon’s experience).
Globally, seventyeight cases of infection were noted (8.9%). The infection rates in
the two groups were not significantly different (9.4% in group A and 8.5% in group
B). Infection rate was not affected by the different criteria studied. However, the
percentage of animals infected in group B tended to be lower than that of group A
as the surgeons’ experience increased.
The results of a study to evaluate the efficacy of the prophylactic use of antibiotics
are described. The infection rates in animals that received the placebo and in those
that received cefalexin were not significantly different (9.4% vs. 8.5%, p <0.05,
respectively). We conclude that the antibiotic prophylaxis is not recommended for
clean and clean-contaminated surgical procedures.
Keywords
Antibiotic prophylaxis - surgery - infection - cephalexin