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©2013 UpToDate ® Print Email Best practices for preventing surgical site infections Evidence category IA - Well designed studies Cancel elective surgery if the patient has an infection at or remote from the surgical site Achieve maximal subcutaneous concentration of perioperative antibiotics Maintain prophylactic antibiotics for only a few hours after closing incisions For high-risk cesarean, administer the prophylactic antimicrobial immediately after the umbilical cord is clamped If it is necessary to remove hair, use clippers, not shaving, immediately before operation Evidence category IB - Good evidence and expert consensus Control glucose levels in diabetic patients and avoid perioperative hyperglycemia Encourage patients who use tobacco products to quit using or to abstain for 30 days prior to surgery Have the patient shower or bathe with an antiseptic agent on at least the night before surgery Follow strict standards for sterilizing instruments, disinfecting operating room, and air circulation Do not routinely use vancomycin for prophylaxis if other agents are appropriate Do not use UV radiation in the operating room for infection prophylaxis Surgical staff who have draining skin lesions are excluded from duty Surgical staff should wear sterile clothing and gloves Surgical team hand hygiene to include keeping fingernails short, scrubing with antiseptic to elbows for two to five minutes, using sterile towels Use appropriate topical microbicides during surgery Use proper surgical technique Apply sterile dressing to incision for 24 to 48 hours postoperatively and wash hands before contact with surgical site Perform hospital surveillance for surgical site infection Adapted from the Centers for Disease Control Guidelines for Prevention of Surgical Site Infection (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/gl_surgicalsite.html).