Nosocomial infections in hand surgery

The active and experienced hand surgeon should have enough knowledge to recognize both common and uncommon hand infections. Control of hospital-acquired infections, including surgical site infections, requires a knowledge of potential personal risk factors and ongoing surveillance systems to aid in prevention and early detection. Current national trends may soon require that surgical-site infections be diagnosed by specific criteria that will allow comparisons of data from various locations. Although most hand surgery procedures are now performed on an ambulatory basis, it is important for the hand surgeon to be aware of current methodologies for the prevention, control, surveillance, and treatment of hospital-acquired infections. These intriguing aspects of hospital-acquired infections are reviewed in this article.