A double-blind trial of a single intravenous dose of metronidazole as prophylaxis against wound infection following appendicectomy.

Abstract

One hundred patients undergoing appendicectomy through a right iliac fossa incision were randomized to receive normal saline or 500 mg metronidazole as an intravenous infusion during the operation. One patient in the saline group developed an erythematous rash. There were 13 wound infections (as defined by the discharge of pus), 12 (out of 51) in the saline group and 1 (out of 49) in the metronidazole group. Bacteroides spp. were frequently cultured from the lumen of removed appendices and from pus obtained from infected wounds. This work supports the value of metronidazole but suggests that a single-dose regimen is adequate for prophylaxis.

• Authors: M J Greenall, A Bakran, I R Pickford, J A Bradley, A Halsall, J Macfie, M Odell, E M Cooke, C Lincoln, M J McMahon
• Journal: The British journal of surgery (Br J Surg) Vol. 66 Issue 6 Pg. 428-9 (Jun 1979) ISSN: 0007-1323 [Print] England
• PMID: 380736 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Metronidazole
• Sodium Chloride

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Appendectomy
• Bacteria (isolation & purification)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Double-Blind Method
• Female
• Humans
• Infusions, Parenteral
• Male
• Metronidazole (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Middle Aged
• Random Allocation
• Sodium Chloride (therapeutic use)
• Surgical Wound Infection (microbiology, prevention & control)