Surgical Infections
Postoperative infection is a major cause of patient injury or death. Of the nearly 30 million surgical operations performed annually, infection rates run from 2.6% to 11%, depending on the operation. Overuse of antibiotics has made many strains of bacterial infection resistant to drugs that help fight these infections.
As a result, these infections can become lethal with infected patients more likely to spend time in an intensive care unit and twice as likely to die as patients who are not infected.
If you or a loved one has suffered or died due to a surgical infection, Contact our Surgical Malpractice Attorney Brooklyn
Patients having a knee replacement who get an infection are more likely to require amputation. Between 40% and 60% of surgical infections are preventable if doctors and hospitals follow the guidelines issued by the CDC.
Unfortunately, in 25% to 50% of Surgeries, Doctors are not following these protocols:
- Use recommended antibiotics
- Start preventive antibiotics within one hour before making the surgical incision
- Discontinue the antibiotics within 24 hours of the end of surgery
Other Guidelines Include:
- Administering oxygen to patients after surgery
- Keeping patient body temperatures normal
- Not shaving a surgical site before surgery
This last measure used to be a standard practice, but has been found to cause micro abrasions in the skin where bacteria can take over. Instead, the CDC recommends that the surgical site be sterilized and the hair not removed, or the hair shortened with clippers.
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