The Impact of a Multidisciplinary Approach Protocol and Integrated Guidelines for Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Plastic Surgery Procedures

Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis has been widely used for prevention of surgical site infections (SSI’s). World Health Organization (WHO) global guidelines strongly recommend the administration of pre-operative prophylactic antibiotic, depending on the type of surgery, to reduce SSI’s. However, within Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, antibiotic resistance has been rising due to unregulated prescribing practice. We aimed to assess adherence to local/international guidelines in the plastic surgery unit of Salmaniya Medical Complex.

This study was a retrospective review of adults’ undergoing plastic surgery between the dates of 1st of January 2019 to 30th of April 2019. Recommendations and guidelines were provided by South Australian Guidelines for Surgical Antimicrobial Prophylaxis, NHS Greater-Glasgow Foundation Trust.  Salmaniya Medical Complex Guidelines were also taken into consideration. This was followed by an implementation of standardized guidelines and a re-assessment period for another four months.

There were 106 patients who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria throughout the primary cohort. With respect to choice and dose of antibiotics, only 21 (19.8%) of the procedures were adherent to global/local guidelines. Similarly, only 11.5% of those cases have met the recommended timing for pre-operative antibiotic administration. After the implementation period, adherence to guidelines regarding choice and time of antibiotic administration has increased to 36.8% and 32.6% respectively. SSI decreased from 1.8% to 0.08%.

Practice in SMC in plastic surgery pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis shows poor compliance to both local and international guidelines in terms of choice, dose, and time of administration. We were able to significantly improve adherence to international/local practice in both areas by implementing an integrated protocol in liaison with the medical staff involved in the plastic surgery unit and operating theatres.