A patient is scheduled for abdominal surgery and is ordered to receive kanamycin as part of the bowel preparation. The patient asks the nurse why he is getting this drug. Which response by the nurse would be most appropriate?

Question

A) "You have an infection now and will probably have one after surgery, so this will help control it."
B) "We need to lower the levels of ammonia in your bloodstream to prevent problems."
C) "The drug helps eliminate bacteria so that your GI tract is as clean as possible for surgery."
D) "This is to help prevent you from developing any blood clots during and after the surgery."

Answer 1

Ans: C
Feedback:
Kanamycin and neomycin are used before surgery to reduce intestinal bacteria. It is thought that this reduces the possibility of abdominal infection that may occur after surgery on the bowel. By destroying bacteria in the gut and washing it out with laxatives or enemas, the surgical area becomes as clean as possible before the operation. The drug is not used to control an infection preoperatively. It does help to reduce blood ammonia levels with hepatic coma, but this is not the reason for its use with this patient. The drug has no effect on preventing blood clots postoperatively.