Antibiotic prophylaxis in breast cancer surgery. A randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: To assess the effect of antibiotic prophylaxis on surgical site infection (SSI) rates in women undergoing breast cancer surgery in two tertiary hospitals in Brazil.

Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial. A total of 124 women without independent risk factors for SSI were randomly assigned to receive either cefazolin (antibiotic group, n = 62) or placebo (control group, n = 62) as preoperative prophylaxis.