Clinical, Microbiological, and Economic Benefit of a Change in Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Cardiac Surgery

Abstract
Vancomycin and rifampicin replaced cephazolin as antibiotic prophylaxis for coronary artery bypass surgery at our institution. Following this intervention, there was a significant decrease (P< .001) in the surgical-site infection rate from 10.5 (95% confidence interval, 8.2 to 13.3) to 4.9 (95% confidence interval, 3.2 to 7.1) infections per 100 procedures. An estimated $576,655 (Australian) was saved between two 12-month periods.