Prophylactic antibiotics and anticonvulsants in neurosurgery

Abstract

The prophylactic administration of antibiotics to prevent infection and the prophylactic administration of anticonvulsants to prevent first seizure episodes are common practice in neurosurgery. If prophylactic medication therapy is not indicated, the patient not only incurs the discomfort and the inconvenience resulting from drug treatment but is also unnecessarily exposed to adverse drug reactions, and incurs extra costs. The main situations in which prophylactic anticonvulsants and antibiotics are used are described and those situations we found controversial in the literature and lack further investigation are identified: anticonvulsants for preventing seizures in patients with chronic subdural hematomas, antiepileptic drugs for preventing seizures in those suffering from brain tumors, antibiotic prophylaxis for preventing meningitis in patients with basilar skull fractures, and antibiotic prophylaxis for the surgical introduction of intracranial ventricular shunts.In the following we present systematic reviews of the literature in accordance with the standard protocol of The Cochrane Collaboration to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of these prophylactic medications in the situations mentioned. Our goal was to efficiently integrate valid information and provide a basis for rational decision-making.