SSI Prevention Guidelines Not Adequate for Orthopedic Patients, Study Finds

Staff -

Guidelines for preventing surgical site infections may not be adequate for patients who have undergone total joint arthroplasty, according to a study published in the Musculoskeletal Journal of Hospital for Special Surgery.

Researchers distributed a survey of evidence-based proposed infection prevention strategies, compiled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the British Orthopedic Association, National Institute of Clinical Excellence and National Health and the Medical Research Council, to orthopedic surgeons to compare the established guidelines with the surgeons' expert opinions on infection prevention strategies.

The surveys revealed certain proposed guidelines are considered critical to orthopedic surgeons, such as prophylactic antibiotics, sterile surgical attire and preoperative skin treatment. However, other guidelines offered by the orthopedic surgeons, such as wound irrigation and preoperative blood glucose control were considered highly important for total joint arthroplasty procedures but were not included in the proposed guidelines.

The authors suggest the evidence-based guidelines are incomplete, and guidelines specifically regarding total joint arthroplasty procedures should be updated.

More Articles on SSIs:

Study: SSI Risk Affected by Extreme Variance in Wound Documentation
What's Stopping SSI Improvement?
Up to 100% of SSIs Unrecorded During Readmissions to Nonoperative Hospitals

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.