 Mupirocin applied to the nares is effective in eradicating nasal carriage of Staphylococcus species. Abundant evidence has documented that a majority of gram positive surgical site infections share bacterial phenotypes identical with nasal phage types. Conflicting literature exists regarding the efficacy of mupirocin in reducing the incidence of surgical site infections. A randomized prospective double-blind placebo-controlled trial is needed to help settle this question in the setting of coronary artery bypass grafting surgery where surgical site infections carry significant morbidity, cost, and mortality. 