The Infection Control Today® operating room page provides news articles and videos on the intersection between surgery and infection prevention. The operating room is a prime breeding ground for harmful pathogens to spread, resulting in surgical site infections. The role of the infection preventionist, together with the perioperative nursing staff, is to craft policies and processes to cut down on these infections and ensure patient safety during surgical procedures.
July 26th 2024
Transplants are a crucial yet complex part of acute care. They involve various organs and tissues, necessitating robust infection prevention programs and compliance with strict regulatory standards.
Medical Crossfire®: Which Patients with Hematologic Malignancies are at Risk for Secondary Immunodeficiency (SID)… and How Can We Leverage Evidence to Improve Their Outcomes?
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Patient, Provider, and Caregiver Connection™: Prevention and Control of Meningococcal Disease — Individualizing Vaccine Recommendations in Adolescent Populations
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Researchers Create World's First Self-Donning System for Surgical Gowns
May 16th 2017In the healthcare setting, there is an increasing need for a self-donning surgical gown that healthcare personnel can don without the need for any assistance. Also, in the context of crisis management for the Ebola virus and other severe infectious diseases, use of a gown that can be donned and removed quickly and safely as infection protection to prevent transmission to the environment is more important than ever.
Researchers Develop Bacteria-Fighting Wound Dressing Made with the Help of Crustaceans
May 1st 2017A new type of wound dressing could improve thousands of people's lives, by preventing them from developing infections. The dressing, a type of compression held in place by a bandage, uses an antibacterial substance formed from the shells of crustaceans like shrimps. It is described in a paper published in the May issue of Radiation Physics and Chemistry.
Guideline Adherence, Team Approach to Prevention Impacts Surgical Site Infections
April 3rd 2017A hospital's surgical services department represents one of the most sizable challenges to infection prevention and control. Surgery also presents a significant risk to patients, and together, the operating room should be on the infection preventionist's radar for healthcare-associated infection (HAI) mitigation and elimination. Research indicates that SSIs are the most common type of hospital-acquired infection. SSIs account for 20 percent of all infections that occur in the hospital setting. Although most patients recover from an SSI without any long-term consequences, they are at a two- to 11-fold increased risk of mortality. Furthermore, SSIs are the most costly of all hospital-acquired infections. With an annual estimated overall cost of $3 billion to $5 billion in the U.S., SSIs are associated with a nearly 10-day increased length of stay and an increase of $20,000 in the cost of hospitalization per admission. As many as 60 percent of SSIs are considered to be preventable. Now that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services no longer pays additional amounts for the cost of treating conditions acquired in a hospital, SSIs have been targeted not only to improve clinical quality, but also to protect hospital reimbursement.
Surgical Smoke Transmits Infectious Diseases; Here's How to Stop It
April 3rd 2017When it comes to preventing infection in the perioperative environment, infection preventionists and perioperative nurses are strong allies. We collaborate to share our unique perspectives on patient safety and uncover little known dangers or risks that put our patients at increased risk for exposure to infectious disease. However, there is a dangerous vehicle for infection transmission in the OR that is lurking right under our noses, literally-that danger is surgical smoke.