Current practice of antibiotic prophylaxis in elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy among surgeons of the Armed Forces Medical Services of India.

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the most common surgery done in general surgical practice worldwide. Despite clear guidelines recommending against the routine use of antibiotic prophylaxis (ABP) for elective LC by professional entities such as the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) etc., most surgeons are not convinced about omitting ABP in low-risk LC. Thus, this study aimed at capturing the practice of administering ABP in elective LC among surgeons of Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS).

Methods: This was a survey based on an electronic, cross-sectional, self-completion questionnaire that was designed and disseminated amongst 184 surgeons of the AFMS, online, and the data was collated centrally.

Results: 64% of surgeons completed the survey. The majority (85%) of surgeons used ABP routinely in elective LC. In the univariate analysis, only the number of years of surgical experience and the total number of LC done in an entire career, and in the multivariate analysis age group of the surgeon, surgical experience and designation were significant factors for avoiding routine ABP in elective LC. Amongst the surgeons administering ABP, only 30% administered a single dose, 73% chose a single agent and Cefotaxime (57%) was the commonest antibiotic used.

Conclusion: This study found that there is a high prevalence of use of antibiotic prophylaxis in elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy amongst the surgeons of the AFMS. There was a wide variation in terms of choice of antibiotics, administering single or multiple doses and as a single agent or combination therapy.

Registered with clinical trials registry of India: CTRI/2019/03/018092.