Quality & Patient Safety

Post-surgical method helps to reduce surgical site infection

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, April 27, 2011

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The simple bedside technique of gently probing a surgical incision to clean it has been shown to dramatically reduce infections, reports the April issue of Archive of Surgery.

Researchers assessed surgical site infections in 76 adults who underwent appendectomy for perforated appendicitis at one hospital over a three-year period, reports Internal Medicine News. Only 3% of the patients who received the gentle probing contracted an infection, while 19% contracted infection in the control group. Length of stay was also decreased in the former group.

Researchers were unsure how the practice fights infection, but believe that allowing for drainage was helpful.



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