Antibiotic prophylaxis in breast reduction surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

[OBJECTIVE] To determine the effectiveness and harm of using antibiotic prophylaxis versus placebo or no intervention in patients undergoing breast reduction surgery to prevent surgical site infection.

[MATERIALS AND METHODS] A search strategy was conducted in the MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, and LILACS databases. Searches were also conducted in other databases and unpublished literature. Clinical trials were included without language restrictions. The risk of bias was evaluated with the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. An analysis of fixed effects was conducted. The primary outcome was surgical site infection. The secondary outcomes were delayed wound healing and adverse effects. The measure of the effect was the risk difference (RD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The planned interventions were antibiotic prophylaxis versus placebo/no intervention.

[RESULTS] Five articles were included in the qualitative and quantitative analysis. A total of 584 patients were included from the five studies. A low risk of bias was shown for most of the study items. The overall RD for surgical site infection was -0.08 (95% CI -0.14--0.03), favoring antibiotic prophylaxis compared with placebo.

[CONCLUSION] Antibiotic prophylaxis lowers the incidence of surgical site infection in breast reduction surgery compared with placebo or no intervention.