Perioperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Cadiac Surgery With Cephalosporins

Though antibiotics are generally inappropriate prophylactic agents presumably one-fourth to one-half of all used in hospitals are for prevention. Side effects of this widespread practice are change of hospital flora, change of antibiotic susceptibility, and, last but not least, increasing medical costs (1, 7, 10). Yet, perioperative antibiotic short-term prophylaxis in cardiac surgery is recommended worldwide especially since consequences of infection following valve replacement are serious (8, 9, 11).