Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are often on multiple medications to control disease activity and these medications may have significant toxicities, including effects on wound healing. Deep surgical site infections are of particular concern when prostheses such as arthroplasties are implanted, given the morbidity, mortality, and expense associated with prosthetic joint infection. Wound ...

 Abstract Background: The cosmetic result of the surgical scar has long been considered by surgeons as an important factor for patient satisfaction. On the other hand, there has been an old teaching that perfect closure of contaminated wounds increases the rate of infection. We decided to look into this matter and see if this is a fact or a myth. Methods: In this prospective randomized study co...

Surgical site infections are among the most common serious perioperative complications. Infections are established during a decisive period that lasts a few hours after contamination. Adequacy of host immune defenses is the primary factor that determines whether inevitably wound contamination progresses into a clinical infection. As it turns out, many determinants of infection risk are under th...

Methods Exploratory descriptive study, developed in a governmental hospital of tertiary care in Minas Gerais (Brazil), from January 2008 to December 2009. Medical records and reports of control infection practitioner of 98 patients readmitted with SSI were reviewed and the data were analyzed in relation to gender, age, co morbidities, length of staying, surgery, specialty, type of procedures, w...

Rahnella aquatilis is a water-residing gram-negative rod, a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae, isolated rarely from clinical specimens of immunocompromised patients. A case of a surgical wound infection caused by R. aquatilis in a patient who underwent a prosthetic surgical intervention is reported. The presence of inducible beta-lactamase was suggested by the disk induction test and the ...

Perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis has been a time-honored principle in the prevention of surgical site infection. Its effectiveness has recently been questioned. Potential reasons for the lack of demonstrable efficacy and suggestions for re-examination of this concept are presented.

BACKGROUND We prospectively investigated whether the wound-protective Alexis (Applied Medical, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) wound retractor was effective in preventing surgical site infection (SSI). METHODS We examined the actual condition of SSI in a 12-month randomized, controlled trial consisting of 221 patients who had undergone nontraumatic gastrointestinal surgery. The patients were divi...