Antimicrobial Prescribing Trends in the Outpatient Surgical Setting in Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia

This was a retrospective study that was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Riyadh Region to explore the frequency of using antibiotics in Outpatient Surgery Department and to explore the appropriateness of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis practices. It included a review of the medical records to check the prescribing of antibiotics in the outpatient setting that were prescribed by surgery department. The present study showed that antibiotics were prescribed commonly for the outpatients who had surgery and that the most commonly prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, fucidic acid, and metronidazole. Furthermore, the study showed that several patients received antibiotics for longer duration. It is important to increase the awareness of health care providers about the practices of antimicrobial surgical prophylaxis. Further studies are needed to explore the adherence to the guidelines and to explore the appropriateness of using antibiotics to prevent surgical site infections.