[Influences of postoperative prophylaxis treatments on vaginal bacteria flora at hysterectomy]

We performed abdominal hysterectomy and administered aztreonam (AZT) for prophylaxis of postoperative infections, and investigated influences of the antibiotics on vaginal bacterial flora. The obtained results are summarized as follows. 1. Patients administered with AZT were studied (n = 48) for bacteria isolated from their vaginae preoperatively and at the 7th and the 14th days postoperatively. Groups of patients administered with cephalothin (CET), cefamandole (CMD) and latamoxef (LMOX) were also studied for comparison. 2. In the AZT group, the rate of isolation of aerobic Gram-positive bacteria was high (68.8-81.4%) whereas those of aerobic Gram-negative and anaerobic bacteria were low. 3. When changes in isolation frequencies of bacteria from the subjects preoperatively to postoperatively were compared, the following tendencies were observed: increase in the rate of aerobic Gram-positive bacteria was larger in the LMOX group than in the AZT group whereas decrease in the rate of aerobic Gram-negative bacteria was largest in the LMOX group followed by the AZT group then by the CMD group. Rates of decrease of anaerobic bacteria showed similar tendencies to the latter. Isolation rates of Candida sp. showed the largest increase in the LMOX group, followed by CET, CMD then AZT groups.