BACKGROUND: To compare the effectiveness of two antibiotics schemes in victims of penetrating abdominal trauma with gastrointenstinal lesions. METHOD: In this prospective and randomized trial, victims of penetrating abdominal trauma with gastrointestinal lesions were distributed into two groups: peroperative cefoxitin only (Group 1) and five days treatment with gentamicin associated to metronidazol (Group 2). The groups were stratified in three levels, in agreement with the Abdominal Trauma Index (ATI). End points were infectious complications at surgical and non surgical sites. Additional trauma scores and data regarding the mechanism of trauma, treatment interval, incidence of shock at the admission, transfused blood volume, surgical time and trans-operative data were collected. RESULTS: Both groups were similar and perfectly comparable, demonstrating that there was no difference in the effectiveness between the antibiotic schemes. CONCLUSIONS: For victims of penetrating abdominal trauma with gastrointestinal lesions, the use of the restricted peroperative cefoxitin scheme is valid.
Penetrating abdominal trauma; Infectious complications; Antibiotic therapy; Antibiotic prophylaxis; Abdominal sepsis
