Effects of two regimens of antibiotic prophylaxis on colonizing flora of the respiratory tract in patients with cardiovascular surgery

Antibiotic prophylaxis in cardiovascular (CV) surgery has greatly reduced the rate of postoperative infections. First-generation or second-generation cefalosporines are used for this purpose. Our hospital changed its antibiotic prophylaxis protocol for elective CV surgery in June 2007 from cefuroxime to cefazolin in accordance with national guidelines [1]. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of changing this antibiotic prophylaxis protocol on microbial flora in sputum.