Two converging factors highlight the need to optimize the use of prophylactic antibiotics in surgery. First, there is an increasing global emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The problem is complex and multi-faceted, but the selective force of overuse of antibiotics plays an important role. The second factor is the transition to the era of managed care requiring both cost containment and qua...

Because of the frequency of urinary tract infections in children, off-label use of antimicrobial prophylaxis is often the usual treatment of children with vesicoureteral reflux, and such use is increasingly being called into question; hence, a definitive study to determine the value of antimicrobial prophylaxis with regard to the recurrence of urinary tract infection and the incidence of renal ...

Following a one-month prospective study of antimicrobial drug use in surgical departments, new guidelines were implemented. The review was repeated after two years. In both study periods, one third of patients were prescribed antimicrobial drugs. Prophylactic antibiotic consumption decreased from 0.75 to 0.53 defined daily doses/operation. Compliance with guidelines improved from 32% to 79%. Du...

BACKGROUND Infection is a complication of TRUS prostate biopsy, despite the use of antimicrobial prophylaxis. Worryingly the rate of infectious complications following TRUS biopsy has been shown to be increasing. We aimed to determine the rate, severity, risk factors, standard patterns of care and microbiology resistance profiles associated with TRUS biopsy sepsis. METHODS A retrospective cas...

OBJECTIVE To assess the benefits and harms of antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in persons with neurogenic bladders caused by spinal cord dysfunction. DATA SOURCES A broad search strategy with no language restriction was conducted of MEDLINE (1966-January 1998), EMBASE (1974-January 1998), and CINAHL (1982-July 1998) using the general search terms urinary tr...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Prevention of surgical site infections is a key issue to patient safety and the success of surgical interventions. Systemic antimicrobial prophylaxis is one important component of a perioperative infection prevention bundle. This review focuses on selected recent developments and important concepts in the field. RECENT FINDINGS Joint guidelines (American Society of Health-Sy...

These guidelines refer to diagnosis, antimicrobial treatment and prophylaxis of urinary tract infections in adults and children older than 12 years of age and cover lower urinary tract in females, uncomplicated pyelonephritis, complicated UTI with or without pyelonephritis, asymptomatic bacteriuria and recurrent UTI. These guidelines do not cover sexually transmitted diseases. The guidelines ar...

HYPOTHESIS Clinically apparent surgical glove perforation increases the risk of surgical site infection (SSI). DESIGN Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING University Hospital Basel, with an average of 28,000 surgical interventions per year. PARTICIPANTS Consecutive series of 4147 surgical procedures performed in the Visceral Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Traumatology divisions...