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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Single-Port Robotic-assisted Transaxillary Breast-conserving Surgery: A Prospective, Single-arm, Non-randomized Phase IIa Clinical Trial
Published on: August 19, 2025
Randomized clinical trial of single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis for non-reconstructive breast surgery
J C Hall1, P C Willsher, J L Hall
1School of Surgery and Pathology, Royal Perth Hospital, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. jchall@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Background:
The aim of this randomized clinical trial was to determine whether a single intravenous dose of 2 g flucloxacillin could prevent wound infection after primary non-reconstructive breast surgery.
Methods:
The study included 618 patients undergoing local excision (n = 490), mastectomy (n = 107) or microdochectomy (n = 21). Patients were randomized to receive either a single dose of flucloxacillin immediately after the induction of anaesthesia or no intervention. Wound morbidity was monitored by an independent research nurse for 42 days after surgery.
Results:
The incidence of wound infection was similar in the two groups: 10 of 311 (3.2 percent) in the flucloxacillin group and 14 of 307 (4.6 percent) in the control group (chi(2) = 0.75, P = 0.387; relative risk 0.71, 95 percent confidence interval 0.32 to 1.53). The groups also had similar wound scores and rates of moderate or severe cellulitis. Wound infection presented a median of 16 days after surgery.
Conclusion:
The administration of a single dose of flucloxacillin failed to reduce the rate of wound infection after non-reconstructive breast surgery.
