MORE than half (60%) of antibiotics given to patients after surgery to prevent infections are prescribed inappropriately, usually because they are not required at all, a situation that may be contributing to the rise of antibiotic resistance, according to the Surgical National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (SNAPS).
The survey also shows over 43.4% of antibiotics given to patients before or during surgery to prevent post-operative infections fall short of good prescribing practice in at least one respect - namely that the drug is given at the wrong time.
The results were reported by the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
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