Table 5 GRADE evidence profile

Surgical site infections (follow-up: from 30 to 180 days)

10^a

Observational study^b

Serious^c

Not serious^d

Not serious^e

Serious^f

None

1040/102,010 (1.0%)

7694/715,299 (1.1%)

RR 1.13 (0.91–1.39)

Plus 1 per 1000 (from minus 1 to plus 4)

⨁⨁◯◯

LOW

Critical

Serious complications secondary to SSI—not measured

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Only 7 out of 10 studies included in this meta-analysis reported serious complications of surgical wounds, which accounted for 23% (24 out of 104) of postoperative SSI cases.^g

–

Critical

Minor complications of surgical wounds—not measured

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Only 2 out of 10 studies included in the meta-analysis reported minor complications of surgical wounds. Of these, 0.89% (7 out of 780) of the patients showed these complications

–

Important

Adverse reactions and side effects to antimicrobials—not measured

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Only 1 out of 10 studies included in the systematic review (but not in the meta-analysis due to the number of events = 0) reported adverse reactions and side effects to antibiotics. Patients who received preoperative antibiotics had significantly more adverse reactions and side effects related to the administration of these drugs than patients who did not receive antibiotic prophylaxis (16.2% versus 5.5%; p = 0.029, chi-squared test). Also, 1 out of 10 patients who use antimicrobials has adverse reactions and side effects to these drugs

–

Important

Comparative costs of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis—not measured

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Only 1 out of 10 studies included in the meta-analysis reported costs of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis. For each patient, the total healthcare expenses in the first 30 days after surgery (including the date of the surgical procedure) is higher when preoperative intravenous antibiotics were administered when compared to cases that did not receive these medications (US $6070 versus US $4891, respectively; p < 0.001)

–

Important