Interval appendicectomy can be performed without antibiotic prophylaxis

Background: The most common and significant cause for morbidity following appendicectomy is surgical wound infection. There are conflicting reports regarding the optimal duration of antibiotic prophylaxis in interval appendicectomy. The efficacy of prolonged prophylactic antibiotic treatment in preventing wound infection for appendicectomy is poorly defined. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare length of hospital stay, the rate of wound infections, post-operative fever for open interval appendectomy between no antibiotic group(A) and antibiotic group(B). Design: Randomized Controlled trial. Duration of study: 1st June 2012 to 31st May 2013. Patients and Methods: The patients were divided into A and B groups and their age, time of discharge, wound infection rates were compared and analysed. Results: Total of 100 patients were included in the study, 50 in each group. There were 58% male and 42% female patients. Mean age was 22.78 years (±6.2). The length of hospital stay in group A and group B was almost same. Wound infection was seen in 1 patient in both groups. One patient had fever in group A which was attributed to malaria. Conclusions: with good aseptic and antiseptic precautions antibiotics can be omitted for interval Appendicectomy (clean contaminated surgery)