Penicillin Concentrations in Abdominal Operation Wounds after Intravenous Administration

Abstract

Raahave, D. Penicillin concentrations in abdominal operation wounds after intravenous administration. Scand. J. Gastroent. 1975, 10, 551-555.

The concentration of benzylpenicillin has been studied in serum and in homogenates of the subcutaneous tissue from abdominal operation wounds in 13 patients who underwent surgery of the colon and/or rectum. An intravenous bolus of 5 megaunits benzylpenicillin gave rise to a serum median concentration of 128.0 i.u./ml and a corresponding tissue median concentration of 29.6 i.u./ml in the operation wound. The serum concentration never fell below the tissue level in sequential periods, and a significant correlation between the concentrations in serum and tissue supports a hypothesis of penetration of penicillin into the wound tissue by diffusion. The results indicate that administration of benzylpenicillin initiated at the time of colo-rectal surgery ensures concentrations in the operation wound inhibitory to a variety of contaminating bacteria, thus being an adjunct to the tissue defences in combating the development of postoperative wound infection.

Key-words::

• Colon
• penicillin G
• surgical wound infection