The purpose of this review is to cover the literature on the prevention of postsurgical infections in the period January 2002 to May 2003. Only articles that address novel insights in the prevention of infections are included in this review. The most interesting findings were observed in preoperative screening of patients for nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus. Eradication of Staphylococcus aureus in nasal carriers resulted in reduction of postsurgical nosocomial infections due to (endogenous) S. aureus infections. Furthermore, postoperative surveillance studies revealed insight in the incidence of surgical site infections, showed the use of risk indices and identified risk factors important for the development of postsurgical infections.