Single-dose cefuroxime prophylaxis in non-elective cesarean section.

A prospective randomized study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of cefuroxime in alleviating infectious complications following non-elective cesarean section. One hundred and two women were allocated to receive 750 mg of cefuroxime after cord clamping and 99 were allocated to a control group not receiving any antibiotic prophylaxis. The incidence of febrile morbidity was 2.0% in the cefuroxime group and 19.2% in the control group (p less than 0.001). The incidence of endometritis in the two groups was 1.0% and 6.1%, respectively, the incidence of fever of unknown origin was 1.0% and 9.1%, respectively. Single-dose cefuroxime prophylaxis significantly reduced the incidence of febrile morbidity in patients undergoing non-elective cesarean section, without producing any side effects.