A Comparative Study Between Single Dose Versus Multiple DoseAntibiotic Therapy After Elective Ent Surgery

Background: Surgical site infections are one of the most common healthcare associated infections (HAI)observed in health care setting in developing countries. Appropriate antibiotic therapy must be initiated inappropriate dose against pathogens most likely to contaminate the surgical site depending upon site of surgery.This study was conducted to compare the single dose versus multidose antibiotic therapy on the outcome of cleanelective surgery.Methodology: The present study was conducted as a randomized controlled study on patients undergoing cleanelective surgeries at Department of Otolaryngology, L.N. Medical College Hospital. A total of 108 patients wereenrolled and divided into two groups of 54 patients each using simple random sampling as single dose and multipledose group.Results: None of the patients had fever during the pre-operative period in either group. However, on postoperativeday 2, 5.6% and 3.7% patients in single dose and multidose group respectively with no statistically significantdifference between the groups (p>0.05). Postoperative discharge and SSI were noted in 5.6% cases in single dosegroup and 3.7% in multidose group. We documented no significant difference in complications between twogroups (p>0.05).Conclusion: Single dose regimen for prevention of surgical site infection following clean elective surgeries is aseffective as multiple dose antibiotic prophylaxis. The use of single dose regimen is a cost effective method as thelength of hospital stay is similar to multidose regimen. Long term antibiotic prophylaxis not only increase the costof treatment but also increase the risk of antibiotic resistance.