Antibiotic prophylaxis for patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Summary: For many surgeries, doctors routinely prescribe antibiotics to prevent infections. But is this necessary for "keyhole" gallbladder removal (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) in otherwise healthy people? A review of 11 studies involving over 1,600 patients found that giving antibiotics didn't significantly reduce wound infections compared to giving no antibiotics at all. However, because the studies had some flaws and focused mostly on low-risk patients, experts say there isn't enough strong evidence yet to completely rule out the benefits or harms.