The open abdominal surgeries are more prone to many surgical site infections due to the therapy failure or aseptic conditions during surgery. The patients undergoing these surgeries are prescribed with more than one antimicrobials as empirical or prophylaxis. This irrationality in prescription can lead to surgical site infections and antimicrobial resistance. Hence, our study aims at evaluating the drug use of antimicrobials in the open abdominal surgery. This hospital based prospective observational study was carried out in the General Surgery department at a tertiary care hospital in India. The study included 114 subjects for a period of six months. The data was collected from various sources in a predesigned data collection forms. The prescriptions containing antibiotics were evaluated and the rationality was compared using John Hopkins Antibiotic Guidelines. Amongst the study population, 57.8% were inpatients and 42.1% were out-patients. The male patients were more (50.8%) and 78.9% of the study population underwent elective surgery. The most common surgery conducted was hernioplasty 48.2%. Majority of the prescription comprised of antibiotic therapy, amongst which the third generation Cephalosporins (70.96%) were prescribed the most, as prophylaxis. The drug utilisation evaluation helps to assess the appropriate selection of safe and effective antimicrobials which is significant in pre and post-operative cases. Hence our study supports the need for clinical pharmacist in the antimicrobial management, to study drug utilization pattern and develop antimicrobial stewardship for the rational prescription.

Keywords: Drug utilization evaluation; Antimicrobials; Surgical site infection.