Background: The continuum from surgically clean, through antiseptic techniques to the use of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis has revolutionized surgical practice and significantly reduced morbidity. Adherence to use of prophylactic antibiotic guidelines varies in different set ups and different diseases. Objective: To document the practice of perioperative prophylactic antibiotic use in a teaching hospital in Eritrea Methods: This is a prospective study conducted in 2009 in Halibet Hospital, Asmara, Eritrea Results: One hundred and one patients were enrolled in the study. Sixty nine percent received prophylactic antibiotics. Of these, 30% were preoperatively and 39% postoperatively. Twenty one percent the majority of whom were in the clean/contaminated group did not receive the required prophylaxis. The surgery site infection rate was 6% mostly from emergency operations recognized during the period of hospitalization. Discussion and conclusion: The use of prophylactic antibiotics in Halibet Hospital needs to be standardized and monitored based on evidence and international benchmarks.

AbstractIntroduction: Preoperative fasting is vital in preventing pulmonary aspiration, regurgitation and vomiting during the induction of anesthesia. Every patient scheduled for surgery including pregnant mothers need to be on fasting for certain period of time. Women undergoing cesarean section need full energy for themselves and the fetus to overcome the stress of birth. However, fasting time in Eritrea is generally longer than is recommended by American Society of Anesthesiologists. Prolonged fasting time has undesirable effects including, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, thirst, hunger etc. Objectives: This study compared the associated discomforts between traditional versus instructing standard guidelines of fasting times among mothers undergoing elective cesarean section. Methods: A non-randomized clinical trials among 106 mothers was conducted. Two groups for comparisons in two different hospitals were selected. One group received instructions of preoperative fasting according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force guidelines and the other group followed through the traditional approaches, i.e. “nothing by mouth after mid-night”. Results: Mild to moderate degrees of discomforts was seen in the study participants. Feelings of thirst and hunger were the serious discomforts experienced. The associated discomforts were not determined to be significantly different (p=0.256) among the two groups of comparison. Conclusion: The study concluded that the associated discomforts were not statistically different between the traditional and standard groups. There was mild to moderate degrees of discomforts in both groups of study. Though the finding shows similar magnitude of discomforts between the two comparison groups, postoperative discomforts appear to worsen as the timing of fasting increases.