Clinical practice guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgery

TLDR

Prophylaxis prevents infection and includes primary, secondary, and eradication strategies. The guidelines were jointly developed by ASHP, IDSA, SIS, and SHEA. The update consolidates ASHP, IDSA, and SIS guidelines to offer a standardized, evidence‑based approach for safe and effective antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent surgical‑site infections.

Abstract

These guidelines were developed jointly by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Surgical Infection Society (SIS), and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). This work represents an update to the previously published ASHP Therapeutic Guidelines on Antimicrobial Prophylaxis in Surgery,1 as well as guidelines from IDSA and SIS.2,3 The guidelines are intended to provide practitioners with a standardized approach to the rational, safe, and effective use of antimicrobial agents for the prevention of surgical-site infections (SSIs) based on currently available clinical evidence and emerging issues. Prophylaxis refers to the prevention of an infection and can be characterized as primary prophylaxis, secondary prophylaxis, or eradication. Primary prophylaxis refers to the prevention of an initial infection. Secondary prophylaxis refers to the prevention of recurrence or reactivation of a preexisting infection. Eradication refers to the elimination of a...