GS24P COMPLIANCE WITH SURGICAL ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS GUIDELINES IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Purpose  To assess compliance with national and international guidelines for surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in Victorian public hospitals and observe trends over time when results were reported back to hospitals. Methodology  Data on surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (drug choice, time of administration of first dose and duration) were collected as part of a surveillance system for hospital-acquired infections from April 2003 until September 2006. Results (own hospital and aggregate) were reported to hospitals on a six-monthly basis during this time. Results  Compliance with guidelines is best for cardiac and orthopaedic surgery, less so for other types of surgery. Improvements have occurred over the time period following commencement of reporting, mainly in compliance with choice of antibiotics. Conclusion  Feedback of results appears to have led to a decrease in the proportion of procedures where antibiotic prophylaxis is not considered to comply with guidelines, particularly for drug choice. There is still room for improvement, particularly with timing of administration and documentation of when antibiotics are administered. The VICNISS coordinating centre will continue to feed back results to hospitals on compliance with surgical antibiotic prophylaxis recommendations and to encourage both documentation and compliance.