OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of normative use of antibiotics on postoperative infection in the thoracic surgery department patients and observe the distribution and drug resistance of the pathogens causing the infection.

METHODS A total of 178 thoracic surgery department patients who were hospitalized and received surgical procedures in Shandong First Medial University Affiliated People′s Hospital after the normative use of antibiotics was carried out for 6 months were assigned as the study group (from Jan. 2023 to Jun. 2023), and 178 patients for whom the normative use of antibiotics was carried out during the same period 1 year ago (from Jan. 2022 to Jun. 2022) were chosen as the control group. The clinical indexes, inflammatory indexes, incidence of postoperative infection, distribution and drug resistance of major species of pathogens causing the infection were observed and compared between the two groups.

RESULTS The time periods of use of antibiotics, subsidence of fever, disappearance of cough and pulmonary rales as well as length of hospital stay were shorter in the study group than in the control group (P < 0.05), the cost of antibiotics of the study group was less than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) of the two groups were higher after the surgery for 3 days than before the surgery (P < 0.05), and the levels of above indexes of the study group were lower than those of the control group(P < 0.05). The total incidence of postoperative infection of the study group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Totally 30 cases had postoperative infection in the two groups. A total of 36 strains of pathogens were isolated, including 11 strains of gram-negative bacteria and 25 strains of gram-positive bacteria. Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains that were resistant to cefazolin, cefoperazone and ceftriaxone were dominant among the isolated pathogens; most of the coagulase-negative Staphylococcus and Staphylococcus aureus strains were resistant to penicillin and amoxicillin.

CONCLUSIONS The normative use of antibiotics may reduce the incidence of postoperative infection among the thoracic surgery department patients. It is necessary to reasonably use antibiotics based on the drug resistance of the pathogens so as to reduce the drug resistance.