A survey of postoperative antibiotic prescription in gastrointestinal cancers in the Tehran-based Firoozgar Hospital in 2014

Introduction: This study aims to present the pattern of antibiotics administration in Firoozgar Hospital as an example of how antibiotics are administered in Iranian hospitals. The pattern is compared with the proposed model in the literature and relevant guidelines to determine the extent to which errors are committed in this regard. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 72 cancer patients were recruited who underwent surgical procedures in Firoozgar hospital in 2014. A survey was made the amount, type, and duration of antibiotics taken by the subjects. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). The results for quantitative variables are expressed as mean and standard deviation (mean±SD) and for the qualitative variables are expressed as percentage. The comparison between quantitative variables was performed by ANOVA. The significance level (P-value) is considered to be less than 0.05. Results: In laparoscopic surgeries, patients on average received 4 days of Ceftriaxone and 3 days of Metronidazole. After Whipple procedure, patients took 8 days of Ceftriaxone and 7 days of Metronidazole and in the open gastrectomy, the mean Metronidazole and Ceftriaxone consumption was 4 days. These numbers increased about 5 days for gastrectomy and if they took esophagostomy, Ceftriaxone for 5 days and Metronidazole for 3 days. The average number of hospitalization in laparoscopic procedures was 6 days; in the Whipple procedure, it was 16 days, and in gastrectomy operations, it was 9 days. Conclusions: Comparing the long duration of hospital stay with the national protocols and the different antibiotic doses for various surgical procedures, further investigations could be conducted to switch the form of national protocols.