Efficacy of Pre Incision Intravenous Single Dose of Cefazolin Versus Multiple Doses of Cefazolin for Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Caesarean Section

Aim : To study the efficacy of pre-incision intravenous single dose of cefazolin versus multiple doses of cefazolin for antibiotic prophylaxis for caesarean section. Materials and methods: This was an interventional, open label, two armed, randomized study conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at PGIMER, Chandigarh from July 2013 to October 2014. Two hundred women were enrolled in the study and randomized into two groups. Group A received single dose of cefazolin whereas Group B received multiple doses of cefazolin. Primary outcome of the study was occurrence of SSI and secondary outcomes included the incidence of febrile morbidity, UTI, endometritis and neonatal outcome. Result: Incidence of SSI occurred was 8% in Group A and 10% in Group B (p-value of >0.05). There was no significant difference observed for secondary outcomes. Conclusions: Present study indicates that use of pre-incision single dose of cefazolin for antibiotic prophylaxis is equally effective compared to multiple doses of cefazolin given over 24 hours in terms of development of SSI, and other infectious morbidity including fever, UTI and endometritis.