Antibiotic Timing For C-Section

(Ivanhoe Newswire) --Giving antibiotics before C-section surgery can cut the infection rate at the surgical site in half. That’s what researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital found.

 

Researchers say rather than giving antibiotics after the newborn’s umbilical cord is clamped, it may be beneficial to do it prior to cesarean surgery.

 

"We followed more than 8,000 women over an eight-year period, and our findings support giving antibiotics just before a cesarean section to prevent infections," infectious disease specialist David K. Warren, M.D. was quoted as sating. "Until recently, standard practice in the U.S. was to give antibiotics when the baby was delivered, after the umbilical cord was clamped."

 

The practice of waiting until after the surgical delivery of the baby to give drugs evolved out of concern that these drugs might hide signs of blood infection in the newborn. But newer studies have shown that giving antibiotics in the hour before surgery both reduced the risk of infection in the mother and had no effect on the health of the infant.

 

"It was always a theoretical concern that giving antibiotics might somehow mask sepsis in the neonate," Dr. Warren said. "But there have been several recent studies showing that this was not an issue."

 

In their study, researchers tracked C-section deliveries and associated surgical site infections at Barnes-Jewish Hospital between January 2003-December 2010. Based on reduced infection rates following other types of surgeries, the hospital changed its policy to administering antibiotics before C-section surgery in 2004.

 

On average, the researchers calculated about five fewer infections per 100 surgeries due to changing the timing of the antibiotics. The investigators also pointed out that infection rates were cut almost in half after the policy change despite the fact that there were significant increases in the number of patients who were overweight or obese over the course of the study. Researchers say having a higher body mass index is associated with increased risk of infection following surgery.