Surgical Antimicrobial Prophylaxis
Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis is the use of antimicrobials to prevent infections that may occur as a result of a surgical procedure. This page provides information on the appropriateness of this prescribing.
Why is surgical prophylaxis a focus area of improvement?
The Hospital NAPS shows that the proportion of surgical prophylaxis given for greater than 24 hours has essentially remained static since 2015.
The Surgical NAPS provides more granular data on surgical prophylaxis in Australian hospitals, including use of procedural and post-procedural surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis for a range of surgical specialties. Successive Surgical NAPS reports have identified opportunities to improve prescribing of surgical prophylaxis.
Data from the Hospital NAPS and the Surgical NAPS, and examples of how these data are used for quality improvement, are included in the analyses presented in AURA 2023: Fifth Australian report on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health.
What is being done about it?
The Commission has worked with representatives from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons; the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists; the Australian College of Perioperative Nursing; the Australian Private Hospitals Association; the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship; and, state and territory health department representatives to develop resources to support improved prescribing of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis.
Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Care Standard
Clinical Care Standards play an important role in delivering appropriate care and reducing unwarranted variation, as they identify and define the care people should expect to be offered, or receive, regardless of where they are treated in Australia.
The Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Care Standard includes a quality statement and indicators specific to surgical prophylaxis.
The Antimicrobial Stewardship Advisory was developed to draw health service organisations’ attention to surgical prophylaxis in relation to the requirements for the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Preventing and Controlling Infections Standard.
