Guidelines for Surgery Antibiotic Prophylaxis - Timing of dosing

• High antibiotic levels, at the site of incision, for the duration of the operation, are essential for effective prophylaxis.
• Patient’s who experience major blood loss (greater than 1500ml) should have fluid resuscitation, followed by re-dosing with the recommend prophylaxis regimen for that operation.
• For operations lasting more than 3 hours re-dosing may be necessary depending on the antibiotics used (see table below)

Caution; the antibiotic doses recommended on this website are intended for adult patients with normal renal and liver function unless otherwise stated. Dosing advice for patients with renal impairment is available here.

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