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Postoperative InfectionPostoperative infections are a very significant cause of surgical deaths. There are different risk factors that can influence the chances of developing a postoperative infection, including type and length of the surgical procedure, age of the patient, previous medical history of the patient, skill of the surgeon, as well as other factors. According to the most comprehensive study done on the impact of safety lapses in hospitals, researchers considered 20 of the most common patient safety problems, including postoperative infections, which caused an extra month of medical care and an additional $30,000 - $140,000. The study was the first attempt to quantify patient safety incidents on children alone, and the results of the study found that the youngest and poorest patients were the most vulnerable. Children up to one year old are at a significantly higher risk than older children to developing medical problems. For instance, a child one month or younger is six times more likely to have postoperative bleeding or sepsis, a potentially fatal postoperative infection of the bloodstream, than children ages one to four years. They are also four times more likely to have technical difficulty with their medical care or an infection because of that care. More than 4,000 children died in 2000 because of safety lapses in hospitals, costing more than $1 billion in hospital charges because of longer stays and follow up care for the sick and injured. In the 16 of the 20 safety categories that the researchers studied, the most common problems were obstetric trauma, failure to resuscitate, and sepsis postoperative infection, which had a rate of error way beyond 100 for every 10,000 children discharged. Research published in the June 1, 2004 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases included a Duke University Medical Center study of patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery that found the elderly, people with diabetes, and women were more likely to develop a serious, potentially fatal postoperative infection in the chest caused by drug resistant bacteria. While the study of patients found an infrequent number of postoperative infections to occur, the results were "extraordinarily devastating". This is just one type of postoperative infection, but an estimated 2.6 percent of the just under 30 million operations performed every year are complicated by surgical site postoperative infections. For some surgical procedures postoperative infection rates are as high as 20 percent. There are simple safety measures that can drastically reduce chances of postoperative infections. The Duke University study was important because it showed the importance of finding out the groups at risk before being able to find the best antibiotic to prevent the postoperative infection. Postoperative infections take lives and cause complications for many patients. In addition, the financial burden of recovering from a postoperative infection can be difficult. For more information on postoperative infections, please contact us. More Information on Postoperative Infections: • Bacterial Postoperative Infections • Postoperative Skin Infections
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