In times of growing bacterial resistance against antimicrobiotic drugs the broad prescription of antibiotics in human medicine must be carefully considered. The perioperative antibiotic treatment is in the center of that conflict. On the one hand an efficient pathogen reduction for the preemptive treatment of infectious complications is desired but on the other hand it is suspected that this promotes the selection of multiresistant pathogens which could lead to an increase of more complicated nosocomial infections. The aim of this article is a critical appraisal of this subject on the basis of the 2012 guidelines of the German working group of Hygiene in Hospital and Practice (AWMF) and the 2010 recommendations of the Paul-Ehrlich-Gesellschaft.
