Why do you take an antibiotic before surgery?

Antibiotics are usually given prior to elective surgical operations on specific body parts and for certain high-risk patients because surgical procedures may compromise the normal anatomical barriers to bacteria, creating a conducive environment for surgical site infections (SSIs) following surgery.

The primary objective of preoperative antimicrobial prophylaxis is to reduce the number of bacteria in the surgical wound and, in doing so, to reduce the risk of developing a surgical site infection, including those caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Preoperative antibiotics may decrease both the incidence and the severity of infections that might develop while surgical sites heal during the vulnerable postoperative period.