Gastrointestinal

Antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended for esophageal surgery in the presence of obstruction, which increases the risk of infection. After gas troduodenal surgery the risk of infection is high when gastric acidity and gastrointestinal motility are diminished by obstruction, hemorrhage, gastric ulcer or malignancy, or by therapy with an H2-blocker such as ranitidine (Zantac, and others) or a proton pump inhibitor such as omepra zole (Prilosec, and others), and is also high in patients with morbid obesit. A dose of cefazolin before surgery can decrease the incidence of postoperative infection in these circumstances. Prophylactic antibiotics are not indicated for routine gastroesophageal endoscopy, but most clinicians use them before placement of a percutaneous gastrostomy