Despite the widespread use of antibiotics, surgical wound infections continue to cause patient discomfort and drain on health care finances. More serious local complications often develop concomitantly (eg, cellulitis) or later (eg, incisional hernia). Inadequate treatment of an illness or poor host defenses may lead to serious systemic complications (septicemic shock, multiple organ failure). Therefore, it is essential that every effort be made to minimize the likelihood of infection. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta convened a group of physicians and surgeons knowledgeable in the practice of infection control. This group developed a set of guidelines that is thought to reflect the state of the art in 1982. The trials, which were objective and preferably randomized or even blinded, determined present options for surgical infection control.