RESUMEN
Between April 1977 and April 1981, three schedules of prophylactic antibiotic therapy using four different antibiotics -- Cefaloridine, an association of Tobramycin-Lincomycin, and Ribostamycin -- have been employed in the surgical treatment of a series of patients. clinical experiments were carried out administering the dose of chosen antibiotic one hour before and a few hours after surgery, without prior selection of patients and without considering what type of surgery they were to undertake. The clinical series presented was submitted to statistical analysis for the purpose of monitoring the effectiveness of the therapeutic programmes adopted to prevent postoperative infections of the surgical focus and of the skin wound, comparisons also being made of the different types of drug. The high number and variability of the factors affecting this type of experiment are attributed equally to the patient's physiological and metabolic features and to the types of lesions and surgical intervention carried out. The rationality of these therapeutic solutions are assessed by comparison with traditional programmes of antibiotic administration carried out solely in the postoperative period for a prolonged time. Practicality, cost and incidence of side effects (infrequent) and the absence of serious toxic consequences are also discussed.