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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4
SURGEONS'
Lounge
THE
P
henelle Segal, RN, CIC, president of Infection Control Consulting
Services, shares her thoughts on the optimal timing of pre-op antibi-
otics:
•
1 or 2 hours?
SCIP measures say you should start prophylactic antibi-
otics within 1 hour before incision and within 2 hours for vancomycin
and quinolones. But what is the definition of "within 1 or 2 hours," and
what about cases that aren't ready for IV infusion 2 hours beforehand?
Many times, 1 hour is stretching it depending on the type of procedure. I
refer to the SCIP guideline tool developed by Quality Net/CMS to inter-
pret this measure. "For antibiotics with less than 1-hour infusion times,
anesthesia will start the antibiotic in the OR. The longer-infusing antibi-
otics (vancomycin and quinolones) may be started in same-day surgery
(2-hour timeframe to incision)."
: When's It Best to Administer Antibiotics?
ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS
ANTIBIOTIC USE
Ensuring the
proper timing of
antibiotic pro-
phylaxis is
increasingly
complex in out-
patient surgery.
