Wound Infection

Wound Infection


Techniques to Reduce Infection in a Surgical Wound



Basic Information image



Procedure




• Anesthesia


image Reduce depth. Excessive depth of anesthesia causes reduced tissue perfusion resulting in reduced oxygen tension, acidosis, and impaired resistance to infection.

image Reduce length. Prolonged anesthesia impairs alveolar macrophage function, depresses neutrophil function/migration, chemotaxis of white blood cells (WBCs), and phagocytic capabilities. Wound infection rates increase by 5% per minute after 60 minutes of anesthesia. Wound infection rates double after 90 minutes of surgery and triple when surgery exceeds 120 minutes.

image Avoid propofol. Propofol has been shown to increase infection rates 3.8 times in clean wounds.

• Clipping: Clipping hair >4 hours before induction of anesthesia increases likelihood of surgical infection by three times. Recommendation: Clip and shave hair after induction of anesthesia. When clipping hair, protect the wound with sterile moist gauze sponges, clip a wide area of hair around the wound. Dampen hair with water or coat lightly with K-Y water-soluble jelly to prevent hair from falling into the wound. Sponges used to pack the wound are discarded and replaced by new ones.


• Surgical technique


image Limit use of electrocautery.
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Jul 24, 2016 | Posted by in SMALL ANIMAL | Comments Off on Wound Infection

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