Cefazolin could potentially be a safe option before surgery in patients with penicillin allergy labels (PAL), suggests the findings of a study conducted by Dr Jocelyn J. Cooper, an internal medicine resident, and colleagues from the Department of Medicine at University of Washington. The study, published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, analysed the medical records of 1741 patients with PALs at the University of Washington Medical Center, to find that 544 (99.1%) out of the 549 patients with PAL, who received cefazolin, had no documented postoperative allergic-type reaction. The team added that the allergic reactions in the rest of the 5 patients were not related to cefazolin.