[General or individually calculated preventive antibiotic administration. Summary of the Magdeburg appendicitis study]

Abstract

A prospective randomized clinical trial was performed to determine the efficiency of single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing septic complications after appendectomy. The infection rate increased significantly in the control group without antibiotic prophylaxis (9.3% to 20.3%). Older patients with severe appendicitis had more advantages from the prophylaxis than younger one. We have suggested to perform antibiotic prophylaxis individually only in those patients with high risk of septic complications after appendectomy.