by Patients who have undergone surgery are at increased risk of developing infection in the hospital. While surgical infections can cause minor problems during recovery, they can also be serious and potentially fatal.
Therefore, every hospital must prevent their occurrence and treat successfully if an infection is to develop. To make sure the facility never falls below its standards, learn how to prevent surgical infections.
Understand the risk factors
A reported 1.7 million infections are reported in US hospitals each year, resulting in 99,000 deaths.
Although anyone can develop an infection after surgery, there are patients who have a higher risk than others.
For example, there is an increased danger if the patient:
- Older
- Taking certain medications such as steroids
- Smoker
- Living with a weak immune system or a health condition such as diabetes
- undernourished
- overweight
The patient’s risk may also increase if the surgery lasted more than two hours and / or they have had abdominal surgery.
Identify symptoms of infection
Every healthcare professional should have a clear understanding of the symptoms of infection, which may include:
- increased skin redness
- edema
- pain
- cloudy or yellowish-greenish discharge from incision wound
- A bad smell
- Fever
- Nausea
Symptoms may appear several hours or weeks after surgery. For example, an implant can cause infection at any time after surgery.
Preventive measures
However, hospitals can take the following steps to prevent infection:
- Patient hair removal before surgery
- Ensure that all OR staff and hands and arms are cleaned with antiseptic soap
- Thorough cleaning of the patient’s skin at the incision site will be performed
- Administration of antibiotics 60 minutes before incision and stopping the course within 24 hours after surgery.
- Closely monitor the patient’s blood sugar and temperature to ensure that it remains within the normal range.
Wound Care
Once surgery is complete, hospital staff should focus on healing the wounds. Closed wounds are usually covered with a sterile dressing for a day or more. However, open wounds must be wrapped with sterile gauze before being covered with a sterile dressing.
It is also possible to create unique wound dressings with Raleigh Adhesive Coatings Ltd. They are designed to develop silicone gel dressings that optimally heal the patient’s wounds.
How to treat surgical infections on the spot
There are various ways to treat a surgical site infection. In some cases, the infection can be treated with antibiotics, but the type to be administered will be determined by the microbe suspected of causing the infection. P>
Reopening and cleaning the infected wound may also be required. A deep wound may need to be inserted with gauze, which needs to be changed frequently until it heals from the inside.
If, however, an infection occurs where the implant was placed, it may need to be removed. However, it is possible that a deeper infection will require additional surgery from the patient.
