Antibiotic prophylaxis is used to prevent infections related to surgery from the administration of antimicrobials before, during and after the procedure. Its practice is mainly recommended in surgeries classified as contaminated or potentially contaminated. Its use should also be considered in clean surgeries in which the occurrence of infections brings serious consequences, such as mastectomy and mammoplasty. Thus, the present study aims to discuss the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in mammoplasty and mastectomy surgeries. This is a narrative literature review, in which the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) “mammoplasty”, “mastectomy” and “antibiotic prophylaxis” were used to search the MedLine and LILACS databases, included in the Virtual Library in Health (BVS). It was observed that the occurrence of infections after mammoplasties or mastectomies can cause damage, such as delay in recovery, in adjuvant therapy, loss of the reconstructed breast or impaired cosmesis, when applicable, which corroborates the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in these procedures. Patients are screened for methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). The main antibiotics used in prophylaxis were cephalosporins (cefazolin, cefadroxil and cefuroxime), isoxazolylpenicillins (flucloxacillin), aminoglycosides (gentamicin) and glycopeptides (vancomycin) in associations. In the studies found, antimicrobial prophylaxis proved to be promising, therefore, the research ratified the importance of using antibiotic prophylaxis in mammoplasty and mastectomy surgeries to prevent infections, also associated with adequate skin preparation practices, with 2% chlorhexidine and 70% isopropyl alcohol.