Renal transplant wound infection: the value of prophylactic antibiotic treatment

Abstract

The incidence of wound infection after 310 renal transplant operations was examined. Among the 78 recipients not given prophylactic antibiotic therapy infection of the transplant wound occurred in 25.6%. Among the 232 patients given prophylactic therapy, with narrow-spectrum antibiotic (cloxacillin), wound infection occurred in only 7.8%. This statistically significant difference in incidence was ascribed to a less frequent occurrence of staphylococcal wound infection in the group of patients receiving antibiotic therapy than in the group not so treated. The presence of wound haematoma, which increased the risk of wound infection, was the only factor predisposing to such infection in this patient series.