Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “WOUND INFECTION”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Dressings and wound infection.

Wounds will readily acquire bacteria, unless protective measures are taken. The bacterial protection afforded by conventional absorbent cellulose dressings has been shown to be limited, particularly in the presence of serous exudate that may compromise dressing integrity. In addition, dressings may shed particles that remain in the wound. By contrast, many modern dressings are impermeable to bacteria, are removed completely, have been found to optimize reepithelialization rates and reduce the incidence of wound sepsis. Recently, it has been found that they could also play a role in preventing cross-contamination. Removing conventional cellulosic dressings from bacterially colonized wounds liberates wound bacteria into the air, and the numbers are slow to decline. However, using an in vitro wound model, use of the hydrocolloid dressing Granuflex (ConvaTec, Skillman, NJ) on experimentally colonized wounds resulted in significantly fewer numbers of airborne bacteria. Dispersal from wet conventional dressings was lower than from dry dressings; nevertheless, the numbers of bacteria per liter of air following removal of the hydrocolloid dressing were approximately 20% of those observed for gauze. These findings have also been confirmed in the clinic. To reduce the incidence of complications, wound care in general, and infection control procedures in particular, requires carefully disciplined team work.

Bandages↗
PubMed1998

[Postoperative wound infections. IV. Flora and clinical course of postoperative wound infection].

Each wound infection may be coursed in few clinical manifestations and may concern either skin with subcutaneous tissue (superficial infection) or deeper layers-fascias, muscles (deep infection). The aim of this study was to evaluate the form of infection and its clinical course, and moreover, to find the specific flora of infected wounds. The material was 1527 surgically treated patients in the 3rd Surgical Department of the Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University during one year. 66 patients with wounds of the head and 7 patients who died within first three days after surgery without wound infection signs were excluded from the study population. The healing of each wound was observed during the patient's hospitalisation and 30 days after discharge from hospital, and in orthopedic patients 6 months after discharge. The total number of 132 infected wounds was identified. The population of 1352 wounds healed without any complications was a control group. All the data were recorded in a Wound Infection Register Card and were collected in the computer database. The data were statistically analysed. Relationships between single factors and postoperative wound infection were evaluated using chi-square statistics and in the small number Fisher's exact probability test. Analysis of variance was used for continuous variables. Odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were computed for all variables. Postoperative wound infection was found in 132 (8.9%) cases, including 76 (57.6%) in males and 56 (42.4%) in females. The average age was 50.9 years. The period of hospitalisation ranged from 3 to 119 days, with the mean of 31.9 days in comparison to 16.3 days in the control group.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMedDate not supplied

New aspects on the pathophysiology of wound infection and wound healing--the problem of lowered oxygen pressure in the tissue.

There is a correlation between tissue oxygen tension, incidence of infection and disturbance of wound healing. Scientific investigations in recent years have documented that infection and tissue repair are processes consuming oxygen. Animal experiments have shown that oxygenation of the tissue is essential for the elimination of pathogens, the stimulation of phagocytosis as well as for the degradation of dead tissue structures and the synthesis of new tissue structures. Hypoxia and hypovolemia are of crucial significance for the impairment of organ functions. An effective therapy for disorders of oxygenation has not been feasible so far, except for clinical anesthesiological efforts to increase the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. However, it has recently been possible to synthesize an oxygen carrier which supports respiratory oxygen physiologically. With tetrachlorodecaoxide (TCDO), a causal therapeutic concept for the topical treatment of infected hypoxic wounds with chronic disturbance of wound healing has been introduced for the first time.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Local application of honey for treatment of neonatal postoperative wound infection.

Honey has been described in ancient and modern medicine as being effective in the healing of various infected wounds. In this report we present our experience in nine infants with large, open, infected wounds that failed to heal with conventional treatment. Conventional treatment was defined as having failed if after > or = 14 d of intravenous antibiotic and cleaning the wound with chlorhexidine 0.05% W/V in aqueous solution and fusidic acid ointment the wound was still open, oozing pus, and swab cultures were positive. All infants showed marked clinical improvement after 5 d of treatment with topical application of 5-10 ml of fresh unprocessed honey twice daily. The wounds were closed, clean and sterile in all infants after 21 d of honey application. There were no adverse reactions to the treatment. We conclude that honey is useful in the treatment of post-surgical wounds that are infected and do not respond to conventional systemic and local antibiotic treatment.

Honey↗
PubMed1995

[Computer-assisted prospective wound infection monitoring. 1: Ideas and principles].

The prospective recording of nosocomial infections can be regarded as a quality control measure whereby exact data collection and analysis will improve recognition of the individual aspects of hygiene deficiency in the hospital and thus reduce the incidence of nosocomial infections. Wound infections will be recorded on the basis of the CDC definitions for nosocomial infections (1988) and according to three categories of cleanliness for all operations: aseptic, contaminated, infected. A computer program is recommended for data collection and exact analysis--if possible, combined with an internal hospital communication system.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed1995

Common aerobic bacteria in post operative wound infection and their sensitivity pattern.

Two hundred and four post-operative patients were examined and pus samples were collected with sterile cotton swabs from 64 patients with infected wounds. The samples were cultured aerobically and the isolates were identified as per standard methods. The prevalence rate of post-operative wound infection were 31.37% and the total number of bacterial isolates were 76 (37.25%). The isolates were identified up to their species level & they were E. coli, Staph. aureus, Kl. Pneumoniae, Ps. aeruginosa. Pr. vulgaris and S. pyogenes. Gram negative bacilli were the predominant organisms and among them E. coli was the most common. In antimicrobial susceptibility test Gentamycin and Cephalexin were found sensitive.

Bacteria, Aerobic↗
PubMed1996

Perioperative normothermia to reduce the incidence of surgical-wound infection and shorten hospitalization. Study of Wound Infection and Temperature Group.

BACKGROUND: Mild perioperative hypothermia, which is common during major surgery, may promote surgical-wound infection by triggering thermoregulatory vasoconstriction, which decreases subcutaneous oxygen tension. Reduced levels of oxygen in tissue impair oxidative killing by neutrophils and decrease the strength of the healing wound by reducing the deposition of collagen. Hypothermia also directly impairs immune function. We tested the hypothesis that hypothermia both increases susceptibility to surgical-wound infection and lengthens hospitalization. METHODS: Two hundred patients undergoing colorectal surgery were randomly assigned to routine intraoperative thermal care (the hypothermia group) or additional warming (the normothermia group). The patient's anesthetic care was standardized, and they were all given cefamandole and metronidazole. In a double-blind protocol, their wounds were evaluated daily until discharge from the hospital and in the clinic after two weeks; wounds containing culture-positive pus were considered infected. The patients' surgeons remained unaware of the patients' group assignments. RESULTS: The mean (+/- SD) final intraoperative core temperature was 34.7 +/- 0.6 degrees C in the hypothermia group and 36.6 +/- 0.5 degrees C in the normothermia group (P < 0.001) Surgical-wound infections were found in 18 of 96 patients assigned to hypothermia (19 percent) but in only 6 of 104 patients assigned to normothermia (6 percent, P = 0.009). The sutures were removed one day later in the patients assigned to hypothermia than in those assigned to normothermia (P = 0.002), and the duration of hospitalization was prolonged by 2.6 days (approximately 20 percent) in hypothermia group (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Hypothermia itself may delay healing and predispose patients to wound infections. Maintaining normothermia intraoperatively is likely to decrease the incidence of infectious complications in patients undergoing colorectal resection and to shorten their hospitalizations.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Wound infections after cardiac surgery--a wound scoring system may improve early detection.

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at describing the early development of wound infections after cardiac surgery to identify markers for upcoming infections. DESIGN: We followed a cohort of 200 patients for 3 months after cardiac surgery to establish the incidence of all types of postoperative infections. Wound healing and C-reactive protein (CRP) were followed for the first 2 weeks. RESULTS: A total of 175 patients out of 200 could be followed up. Using a broad definition of wound infection a total of 30% of the patients had some kind of wound infection. The diagnosis of most infections occurred after the patients had left the cardiac surgery unit (median 12 d after surgery). Our wound scoring method shows significant differences at an early stage between infected and non-infected wounds. At the time of diagnoses CRP was elevated in patients with deep sternal infection. CONCLUSION: A long follow-up period is needed to establish the true incidence of infection. Wound scoring can give an early indication of wound infections and CRP can help in the diagnoses of deep infections.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Evidence-based surgical wound care on surgical wound infection.

Surgical wound infection is an important outcome indicator in the postoperative period. A 3-year prospective cohort epidemiological study of 2202 surgical patients from seven surgical wards across two hospitals was carried out using gold standard surveillance methodology. This involved following patients up as inpatients and postdischarge surveillance to 30 days by an independent observer. The results led to the development of a mathematical model for risk of clean, elective surgical wound infection. Risk of surgical wound infection was increased by smoking, higher body mass index, presence of malignancy, haematoma formation, increasing numbers of people in theatre, adherent dressing usage, and higher times to suture removal (P<0.05). The results show that this type of surveillance is an effective way of collecting accurate data on wound infection rates. It was noted that patient care practices affected the surgical wound infection rate and the surveillance was used to facilitate the adoption of evidence-based practice, through recommendations for clean surgery, to reduce the risk from extrinsic risk factors for wound infection. As a result of the implementation of this evidence-based practice there was a significant reduction (P<0.05) in the clean wound infection rate.

Bandages↗
PubMed1992

Wound infection surveillance.

Wound infection surveillance is the information-gathering arm of a wound infection control program. Wound infection control concerns prevention--not therapy--of an infrequent but expensive kind of surgical morbidity. Topics discussed in this article include the effectiveness of wound infection surveillance; turf issues; phenomenology; and the gathering, reporting, manipulating, and use of wound infection data.

Data Collection↗
PubMed2003

The epidemiology of burn wound infections: then and now.

Burn wound infections are a serious complication of thermal injury. Although pneumonia is now the most important infection in patients with burns, burn wound infection remains a serious complication unique to the burn recipient. The methods for managing thermal injury have evolved during the past 50 years. This evolution has been accompanied by changes in the etiology, epidemiology, and approach to prevention of burn wound infections. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s and into the mid-1980s, burn wounds were treated by the exposure method, with application of topical antimicrobials to the burn wound surface and gradual debridement with immersion hydrotherapy. As early burn wound excision and wound closure became the focal point of burn wound management, accompanied by a change from immersion hydrotherapy to showering hydrotherapy, the rate of burn wound infection appeared to decrease. Few epidemiologic studies have been done since this change in the approach to management of thermal injury. There are few data on the epidemiology of burn wound infections from the era of early excision and closure. Data are needed on infection rates for excised and closed burn wounds, the etiologies of these infections, and the epidemiology and the prevention of such infections. Additional studies are needed on the indications for topical and antimicrobial prophylaxis and selective decontamination of the digestive tract.

Antibiotic Prophylaxis↗