The role of prophylactic antibiotics in preventing surgical site infections (SSI) for clean procedures like groin hernia repair remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association between antibiotic prophylaxis and SSI rates in a real-world clinical setting and to identify independent risk factors for SSI. The study prospectively followed 100 male patients undergoing elective open groin hernioplasty. Patients were categorized based on the surgeon's decision into two groups: those who received a single dose of intravenous cefazolin (Antibiotic Group) and those who did not (No Antibiotic Group). The main outcome was the rate of SSI within 30 days of surgery.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult patients (aged 17-80 years) undergoing primary open groin hernioplasty.
• Provided written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Recurrent, emergency, or complicated (e.g., incarcerated, strangulated) hernias.
• Laparoscopic repairs.
• Known immunosuppression, ongoing antibiotic therapy, or a known allergy to cefazolin.
• Refusal to participate.

De-identified individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article will be made available after publication. This includes data on baseline characteristics, group allocation, and the primary outcome.

Data will be available beginning 3 months after article publication and the access period will remain open for 5 years.

Data will be made available to qualified researchers for meta-analysis or other secondary analyses. Researchers must submit a methodologically sound proposal to the corresponding author at h.jowah@su.edu.ye. A signed data access agreement will be required.