The effect of prophylactic antibiotics on pelvic infection following vaginal hysterectomy.

The effect of prophylactic penicillin and streptomycin on postoperative pelvic infection and hospital stay following vaginal hysterectomy was studied. 92 patients received 600,000 U procaine pencillin plus .5 gm streptomycin 12 hours prior to operation and every 8 hours following operation for 3 days. 8 patients allergic to penicillian received 1 gm cephaloridine rather than penicillian and streptomycin. 100 patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy received no prophylactic antibiotics. Morbidity caused by pelvic infection was significantly reduced (p less than .01) from 19 to 1% and urinary tract infection decreased from 6 to 2% when prophylactic antibiotics were employed. Total postoperative morbidity was decreased from 37 to 8% (p less than .01) and postoperative hospital stay was reduced from 6.3 to 5 days (p less than .002) when prophylactic antibiotics were administered.