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Abstract

Objective: To investigate the influence of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis(SAP) on complication rates and surgical site infections (SSI) in horses under-going sutured castration in a hospital setting.Study design: Retrospective chart review of a convenience sample.Animals: A total of 220 colts and stallions admitted for sutured castration.Methods: Medical records of sutured castration were assessed for patient char-acteristics, perioperative and postoperative medications, and postoperativecomplications within 6 weeks after surgery. The effect of these variables on theoccurrence of complications was analyzed using χ2 tests, and the associationbetween SAP use and SSI probability was evaluated.Results: The median age of horses included in the study was 3 years (range1–14 years), and the overall complication rate was 10.0% (22/220). Surgical anti-microbial prophylaxis was administered to 62% of the patients (136/220). Therewere no differences in the overall complication rates, with a 7.1% (6/84) compli-cation rate among horses without SAP (SAP-) and an 11.8% (16/136) rate inthose receiving SAP (SAP+) (p = .36). There was no association between theuse of SAP and the probability of SSI, with an incidence of 3.6% in SAP- and4.4% in SAP+ (3/84 and 6/136 respectively) (p = 1.0).Conclusion: Administering SAP did not influence the overall complicationrate or the SSI rate following sutured castrations in a hospital setting.Clinical Significance: These findings prompt a reconsideration of the use ofSAP for sutured castrations under aseptic conditions. The results may alsoserve as a basis for future randomized controlled trials.

Published in

Veterinary Surgery
2025

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Clinical Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/vsu.14256

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/141613