This section contains selected aggregated data for the State of Victoria which has been published in annual reports. Data presented here are from all public hospitals in Victoria and selected private hospitals – private hospitals have been contributing on a voluntary basis since 2009. Additional data types will be added in future. Click on an image for an enlarged view.
7. Colorectal surgery
Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (administration of one or more doses of antibiotic before and/or during surgery) is one of the most important preventative measures which can be taken to reduce surgical site infections. For all of the surgical procedures which VICNISS collates data on, data are also obtained on the antibiotics administered for prophylaxis. This information is used to assess whether these antibiotics were given in accordance with national guidelines for choice of antibiotic (which varies according to type of surgery) timing of administration (usually within 1 hour prior to surgery), and duration of administration (normally 24 hours or less).
Over the many years this data have been collected, reports on compliance have been provided back to health services on a quarterly basis comparing their performance to the aggregate for the State. This has resulted in improvements in most aspects of compliance as health services have taken action to improve both documentation and actual compliance with guidelines.
Only choice and timing data are presented here; compliance with duration overall is very high.
For more recent data on surgical antibiotic prophylaxis please refer to published article "Antibiotic Prescribing Practices for Prevention of Surgical Site Infections in Australia: Increased Uptake of National Guidelines after Surveillance and Reporting and Impact on Infection Rates". Ann L. Bull, Leon J. Worth, Tim Spelman, and Michael J. Richards. SURGICAL INFECTIONS Volume 18, Number 7, 2017
