الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Since there are an overwhelming number of effective drugs available, attempts to define an antibiotic regimen of choice have been problematic. Ideally, such a drug regimen should be: (1) proven to be effective in well-designed prospective, randomised, double-blind clinical trials, (2) active against the majority of pathogens likely to be involved, (3) able to attain adequate serum and tissue levels throughout the procedure, (4) not associated with the development of antimicrobial resistance, (5) inexpensive, and (6) well-tolerated. In many respects penicillins and cephalosporins meet these criteria. Many investigators have used these drugs and have recommended that drugs from these classes represent the antibiotics of choice for caesarean section prophylaxis (Cartwright et al., 1984). However, current knowledge of bacterial resistance may challenge these recommendations (Gillian et al., 2014). The past several decades have seen an increase in the incidence of caesarean section, associated with an increase in maternal postoperative infection. Studies indicate that wound infection can be as high as 30% and endometritis as high as 60% where prophylactic antibiotics have not been utilised (Smaill et al., 2002). Therefore, infectious complications that occur following caesarean section are an important contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality (Henderson et al., 1995). Such complications are also an important source of increased hospital stay and consumption of financial resources. Prophylactic antibiotics for caesarean section can be expected to result in a major reduction in postoperative infectious morbidity (Gillian et al., 2014). The question that remains, therefore, is which regimen to use. |