Antibiotic Use for Elective Surgery in the Older Adult

Abstract

Introduction: Geriatric surgical patients have functional impairment and associated diseases, which increases their surgical risk with age.

Objective: To determine the behavior of antibiotic use in geriatric patients requiring elective surgery attended at Hospital Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital from 2018 to 2022.

Methods: A descriptive, observational, analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted on patients undergoing elective surgery with antibiotic treatment. The data were obtained from medical records and the applied interview. The analyzed variables included age, sex, associated diseases, preoperative diagnosis, surgical time, complications, evolution, glomerular filtration and perioperative antibiotic dose.

Results: Antibiotic use was more frequent in the age group 60 to 64 years and in the female sex; the most frequent comorbidities were diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and ischemic heart disease. The most frequent reasons for consultation were vesicular lithiasis and hernias within the ASA I group of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. The fundamental antibiotics were adjusted by doses.

Conclusions: An individualized work is needed in terms of care of the older adult. The use of a working protocol or algorithm is necessary in daily practice, especially when elective surgery is required.