A comparison of topical and systemic cefazolin for wound prophylaxis.

An experimental wound infection model was used to compare the effectiveness of topical and systemic cefazolin in the prevention of wound infection. Studies were conducted using both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli as the contaminating organisms. Regardless of the wound pathogen studied, there were no significant differences between topical and systemic cefazolin with regard to wound bacterial concentrations and the incidence of wound infection.