Antibiotic is a chemical compound whose biological function is to destroy or slow down the development of various microorganisms that may have a disease-causing effect on the body. Initially at their discovery, antibiotics were entirely of natural origin.
Today, medical chemistry has advanced to such an extent that most antibiotics have a semi-synthetic (penicillin, cephalosporin) or synthetic (sulphonamides, quinolones) origin and only a small fraction is still extracted from live molds and bacteria (i.e. aminoglycosides).
Discovery of antibiotics is a turning point in medicine and it helps to deal with many infections that in the past have led to a fatal outcome. Nowadays, much of the surgical interventions can be prevented or delayed significantly by the appointment of appropriate antibiotic therapy.
Antibiotic treatment after surgical interventions has both preventive use to avoid the risk of infections and to stimulate the healing of post-operative wounds and to control already inflamed processes. After surgery, your doctor may appoint an antibiotic in some form, depending on your individual needs and the type of intervention - tablets, capsules, ointments, ampoules, sprays, etc.
It is considered a good practice (in the absence of other indications) to use an antibiotic that is well absorbed at oral intake in order to avoid the unnecessary risks of intravenous use.
The frequency of antibiotic therapy is determined by the plasma half-life of a particular drug you are prescribed. Plasma half-life is the time for which the drug reaches the highest blood concentration after administration. The different antibiotics can have a half-life between 8 and 24 hours. To maintain a constant concentration of the drug in the body, it is important that you take the therapy at the exact times and doses prescribed by your doctor.
An antibiotic with broad spectrum action (amoxicillin, cefuroxime, etc.) is commonly prescribed for prevention. It does not require a preliminary antibiotic because it covers a wide range of micro-organisms that are expected to cause a complication.
In limited cases, you may be prescribed a narrow-spectrum antibiotic (clindamycin, azolcillin, gentamicin, etc.), usually in order to avoid the development of resistance to bacteria and the presence of specific indications of its use. These meds are administered after an antibiogram to isolate the particular bacterium causing the infection and after detecting its sensitivity to the antibiotic. Rarely, this form of treatment occurs in outpatient settings. The usual practice is to use an intravenous route and follow-up in hospital treatment.
Another important sign in choosing a medication when an infection occurs is whether your immune system will be able to react to overcoming the inflammatory process or the agent will be directly attacked and destroyed by the antibiotic itself. Bacteriostatic antibiotics (aminoglucosides, macrolides, etc.) significantly slow the growth of bacteria and leave the immune system to complete the process of destruction. Bactericidal meds (fluoroquinolones, penicillins, sulfamethoxazole, etc.) directly destroy the pathogenic microorganism that is found in the body.
Very rarely, it may be necessary to administer a combination of bacteriostatic and bactericidal preparations, usually in urgent conditions such as severe resistance and bacterial polyresistance, presence of marked sepsis, nosocomial infections, or patients with a compromised immune system (i.e.HIV positive patients).
Препоръчани клиники за такъв тип заболявания
