Does topical rifampicin reduce the risk of surgical field infection in hernia repair?

Abstract

Objective: Inguinal hernia operations are common procedures in general surgery. There have been many approaches in the historical development of hernia repair, and tension free repair with mesh is the most common technique today. Although it is a clean wound, antibiotic use is still controversial because of the role of the patch in development of infection. We aimed to determine the probable role of topical rifampicin in patients with tension-free hernia repair and patch support. Material and Methods: The files of patients with tension-free hernia repair were screened retrospectively. Information and operative notes of patients with synthetic materials were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups, patients with placebo (G1) and patients with patches with topical rifampicin (G2). Infection rates were compared between the groups in the early postoperative period. Results: The mean age of the 278 patients who were included study was 49.6±15.39 and the female/male ratio was 10/268. There were recurrences in four patients and superficial infection in 22 patients in the early period. One patient had testis torsion and an orchiechtomy was done. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of age and gender. The types of hernia and body mass indexes were homogenous in the two groups. In the early postoperative period the infection rates were 16/144 (11.1%) and 6/134 (4.48%) in the groups, respectively, with statistically significant differences (p=0.041). Conclusion: We suggest that applying rifampicin locally can decrease surgical field infection in operations where patches were used. © Copyright 2013 by Turkish Surgical Association.