Abstract

Surgical site infection represents a serious and generalized problem, that could lead to significant morbidity, a high rate of re-operation and antibiotic treatment, with the consequent delay in wound healing and the risk of a systemic spread of the infection [1]. Breast surgery is normally classified as a category of clean operations (Table 1), such as hernioplasty and thyroid surgery. However, surgical wound infection rates in the literature are about 3-15%, which is a little higher if we consider other interventions classically considered "clean" (between 1.5 and 3%) [2, 3]. Other authors report slightly lower surgical site infection rates in breast cancer (range 2-4.3%) [4]. These differences can be justified by the opening of the ductal system during surgery, bringing it into communication with the external environment. The incidence of wound complications after breast cancer surgery increases if axillary surgery [5] is performed.