Collagen tampons as aminoglycoside carriers to reduce postoperative infection rate in prosthetic repair of groin hernias

Abstract

Objective: To find out whether collagen tampons treated with gentamicin would prevent postoperative infections in patients operated on for groin hernias by insertion of prostheses.

Setting: University hospital, Italy.

Design: Prospective randomised trial.

Patients: 595 patients who required prosthetic repair of a groin hernia.

Interventions: All repairs were by our standard surgical technique including prophylactic ceftriaxone, local anaesthesia, and insertion of a polypropylene mesh. 301 patients also had a gentamicin laced collagen tampon placed in front of the prosthetic mesh before the aponeurosis of external oblique muscle was sutured.

Results: 1/301 patients in the gentamicin group (0.3%) developed a postoperative wound infection compared with 6/294 in the control group (2.0%), (p = 0.04 Fisher exact test).

Conclusions: Gentamicin-laced collagen tampons are effective in reducing the postoperative infection rate in patients operated on for groin hernia by insertion of a prosthesis.