Background: Antibiotic prophylaxis is critical in general surgery to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). While essential for many surgical procedures, the judicious use of antibiotics prevents antimicrobial resistance and maintains patient care. Aim: The current study aims to evaluate the drug usage patterns of antibiotics in the general surgery department by using benchmarks and WHO AWaRe framework for antibiotics. Method: We conducted a drug utilization evaluation study on 384 patients visiting the department of general surgery. We evaluated the antibiotic prescribing using the World Health Organization- Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) classification system. Result: Ceftriaxone is the commonly prescribed antibiotic in our study (17.70%). Ceftriaxone is a Watch category antibiotic. The most common surgical procedure in our study was hernioplasty (16.40). The average number of antibiotics per prescription was 2.16 and had a compliance rate of 90.89% with the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). Conclusion: Cefazolin is recommended over ceftriaxone because it is an access class of antibiotic. Judicious use of second- and third- generation antibiotics and Watch class antibiotics such as ceftriaxone are necessary to prevent antimicrobial resistance.

Background: Antibiotic prophylaxis is critical in general surgery to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). While essential for many surgical procedures, the judicious use of antibiotics prevents antimicrobial resistance and maintains patient care. Aim: The current study aims to evaluate the drug usage patterns of antibiotics in the general surgery department by using benchmarks and WHO AWaRe framework for antibiotics. Method: We conducted a drug utilization evaluation study on 384 patients visiting the department of general surgery. We evaluated the antibiotic prescribing using the World Health Organization- Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) classification system. Result: Ceftriaxone is the commonly prescribed antibiotic in our study (17.70%). Ceftriaxone is a Watch category antibiotic. The most common surgical procedure in our study was hernioplasty (16.40). The average number of antibiotics per prescription was 2.16 and had a compliance rate of 90.89% with the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). Conclusion: Cefazolin is recommended over ceftriaxone because it is an access class of antibiotic. Judicious use of second- and third- generation antibiotics and Watch class antibiotics such as ceftriaxone are necessary to prevent antimicrobial resistance.