Surgical site infection is one of the most common complications that a surgeon encounters, with an infection occurring after approximately 780,000 operations in the United States each year1. In the era of evidence-based medicine, it is in the best interest of patients and physicians to follow practices backed by basic science and clinical data. Unfortunately, standards of practice, even for the use of prophylactic antibiotics, are frequently not followed2. In 2005, this journal made a commitment to present physicians with the literature to support the best available treatment for their patients with use of “recommendations for care” based on grades of recommendation in review articles3. Grades of recommendation are intended to guide surgeons in determining whether they should change their practice on the basis of good (Grade-A) or fair (Grade-B) recommendations. Grade-A recommendations are generated from Level-I studies, whereas Grade-B recommendations are derived from Level-II or III research. A proposal is considered to be Grade C when there is poor or conflicting evidence concerning an intervention based on Level-IV or V studies, and Grade …