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Management of infection in the surgical patient

I D McGilvray1, O D Rotstein

  • 1Research Fellow, Division of General Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Surgical Technology International
|December 8, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Surgical infections, often polymicrobial and linked to underlying pathology, require broad-spectrum antibiotics and surgical intervention. Intra-abdominal infections serve as a model for understanding these common diagnostic and management principles.

Area of Science:

  • Surgical infections
  • Infectious disease management

Background:

  • Surgical infections present diverse clinical pictures.
  • Common features facilitate a generalized diagnostic and management strategy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To outline a general approach to the diagnosis and management of surgical infections.
  • To use intra-abdominal infections as a representative model.

Main Methods:

  • Review of common features of surgical infections.
  • Utilizing intra-abdominal infections as a prototypical example.

Main Results:

  • Most surgical infections are polymicrobial.
  • Infections are associated with underlying pathological processes.
  • Treatment typically involves broad-spectrum antimicrobials and surgical/radiological intervention.

Conclusions:

  • A unified approach to surgical infection diagnosis and management is feasible.
  • Intra-abdominal infections exemplify key characteristics of surgical infections.

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