MATERIAL and METHODS: Two cross-sectional studies were performed to compare the 24-hour antimicrobial use for all the inpatients at the neurosurgical ward 1 day before (June 30, 2011) and 1 year after (June 29, 2012) the beginning of the new rules. Student’s t-test or the chisquare test were used to compare baseline characteristics and prophylactic or therapeutic antimicrobial usage between the groups.

RESULTS: The total of 391 patients enrolled consisted of 221 for June 30, 2011 as group 1 and 170 for June 29, 2012 as group 2. The baseline characteristics of the groups showed no significant difference. The prophylactic use significantly decreased in Group 2 (13.1% vs. 5.9%, p=0.018). However, total therapeutic use (10.9% vs. 18.2%, p=0.041) and the use for nosocomial infection (7.32% vs. 15.9%, p=0.009) both increased significantly in Group 2. Furthermore, therapeutic use for surgical site infections also increased significantly (3.16% vs. 9.41%, p=0.015).

CONCLUSION: Shorter antimicrobial prophylaxis may increase post neurosurgical infection. The optimal duration of neurosurgical antimicrobial prophylaxis should be compliant with local hospital conditions and further prospective trials are required to address this issue on a procedure-specific basis. Keywords : Antimicrobial prophylaxis, Neurosurgery, Cross-sectional study