Abstract

CONCEPTUAL STUDY ON PREVENTION OF SURGICAL SITE INFECTION

Dr. Ravishankar Pawar*

Abstract

The “Guideline for Prevention of Surgical Site Infection, 1999” presents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s recommendations for the preven-tion of surgical site infections (SSIs), formerly called surgi-cal wound infections. This two-part guideline updates and replaces previous guidelines. Part I, “Surgical Site Infection: An Overview,” describes the epidemiology, definitions, microbiology, pathogenesis, and surveillance of SSIs. Included is a detailed discussion of the pre-, intra-, and postoperative issues relevant to SSI genesis. This is especially true regarding the implementation of SSI prevention measures. Finally, some of the infection control practices routinely used by surgical teams cannot be rigor- ously studied for ethical or logistical reasons (e.g., wearing vs not wearing gloves). It has been estimated that approximately 75% of all operations in the United States will be performed in “ambu-latory,” “same-day,” or “outpatient” operating rooms by the turn of the century.[4] In recommending various SSI preven-tion methods, this document makes no distinction between surgical care delivered in such settings and that provided in conventional inpatient operating rooms. This document is primarily intended for use by surgeons, operating room nurses, postoperative inpatient and clinic nurses, infection control professionals, anesthesiologists, healthcare epi-demiologists, and other personnel directly responsible for the prevention of nosocomial infections. Specifically recommend SSI prevention methods unique to minimally invasive operations (i.e., laparoscopic surgery). Available SSI surveillance data indicate that laparoscopic operations generally have a lower or compa-rable SSI risk when contrasted to open operations.[6-11] SSI prevention measures applicable in open operations (e.g., open cholecystectomy) are indicated for their laparoscopic counterparts (e.g., laparoscopic cholecystectomy).

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