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The highest incidence of SSIs was observed in inguinal hernia procedures, carotid endarterectomies, urologic procedures, and colon surgeries.13 Characteristics that were associated with the incidence of SSIs were diabetes, postoperative anemia, and weight loss greater than 10% within 6 months before surgery.13 Furthermore, SSIs occur with greater fre-quency with increasing ASA physical status classification (ASA score). An ASA score of 3, which is severe systemic but not incapacitating disease, accounted for most of the SSI cases (n = 105, 64.8%).13Surgical Care Improvement ProjectCurrent literature estimates that nearly 60% of SSIs are preventable.1 Preventive management of SSIs is based largely on using evidence-based guidelines that support a safe patient environment during the perioperative period. The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) is a na-tional quality partnership of organizations committed to improving patient safety by promoting evidence-based interventions as the standard of care to minimize the incidence of surgical complications.14 Six performance measures target prevention of postoperative infection. Research indicates that implementing these performance measures has a positive impact on SSI reduction.15 Efficacy and implementation of SCIP measures are sup-ported by the literature and are nationally endorsed.15Most SSIs result from bacterial inoculation at the time of surgery, even though infection presentation manifests several days later.3 The anesthesia provider can make a substantial contribution to prevention of SSIs during the perioperative period by implementing the SCIP guide-lines for timely and appropriate use of antibiotics and maintenance of normothermia.1Antibiotic Timing and SelectionIn 1961, Burke16 established the foundation for the current antimicrobial prophylaxis clinical guideline. Investigation of antibiotics on inflammatory response to surgical incision yielded the current recommendation to administer antibiotic prophylaxis 1 hour before incision. Burke16 concluded that bacteria were most susceptible when antibiotics were in the tissues, thus establishing timing of administration. Subsequently, Fogelberg et al17 examined the effects of prophylactic penicillin in reduc-ing wound infections. The infection rates in the penicillin group were significantly lower than in the control group.