Antimicrobial prophylaxis

Antimicrobial prophylaxis is generally not indicated for cardiac catheterization, varicose vein surgery, most dermatologic and plastic surgery, arterial puncture, thoracentesis, paracentesis, repair of simple lacerations, outpatient treatment of burns, dental extractions or root canal therapy because the incidence of surgical site infections is low. A study in patients undergoing cosmetic procedures who did not receive prophylactic antibiotics found that infection was more common after longer operations; the authors concluded that a single dose of cefazolin might be helpful before operations that last more than 3 hours.