Postoperative antibiotics do not reduce surgical site infections after clean thyroid and breast surgery: A randomised controlled trial from a resource-constrained setting

Abstract

Elective thyroid and breast procedures are classified as clean surgery, yet prolonged postoperative antibiotic use remains common in many low- and middle-income settings despite guideline recommendations, contributing to unnecessary antimicrobial exposure. We conducted a randomised trial in a public tertiary-care hospital in central India, assigning adults undergoing elective clean thyroid or breast surgery to either three days of postoperative antibiotics or no antibiotics beyond a single pre-incision prophylactic dose. The primary outcome was 30-day surgical site infection.