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Preventing Surgical Site Infections

Department of Surgery, Tulane University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana

REPRINT REQUESTS: Ronald Lee Nichols, MD, Department of Surgery SL22, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112-2699, Telephone: 504-588-5168, Fax: 504-586-3843, Email: ronald.nichols{at}tulane.edu

Over the past 50 years, increased interest in the discipline of surgical infection has resulted in advances in post-surgical infection control. Early investigations focused on the importance of anaerobic microflora to postoperative infection and paved the way for significant improvements in prophylactic and therapeutic antibiotic treatment of surgical patients. Later research centered on the identification of risk factors to better predict postoperative infection rates. This article reviews the evolution of postoperative infection control and highlights antibiotic prophylaxis in specific clinical situations.

Key Words: Surgical wound infection • Anti-bacterial agents • Antibiotic prophylaxis • Infection control • Risk factors