Topic summary
Prophylactic antibiotic
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Antibiotic prophylaxis.
For humans
Even when sterile techniques are adhered to, surgical procedures can introduce bacteria and other microbes in the blood (causing bacteremia), which can colonize and infect different parts of the body. For surgery, prophylactic antibiotic treatment mainly reduces superficial infections at the site of surgical incisions; it is less effective at preventing deep infections. For example, if someone is having emergency surgery for a damaged bowel, antibiotics will have a bigger effect on preventing an infection at or near the skin rather than preventing an infection deep in the abdomen or preventing lung or bladder infections.