Surgeon choice in the use of postdischarge antibiotics for prophylaxis following mastectomy with and without breast reconstruction.

Multiple guidelines recommend discontinuation of prophylactic antibiotics <24 hours after surgery. In a multicenter, retrospective cohort of 2,954 mastectomy patients ± immediate breast reconstruction, we found that utilization of prophylactic postdischarge antibiotics varied dramatically at the surgeon level among general surgeons and was virtually universal among plastic surgeons.