Sources of surgical infection

Postoperative infectious complications are the single most common source of morbidity, mortality and health care cost in the surgical patient. Dealing with surgical-site, pulmonary, urinary tract, and catheter-/device-related infections remains a distressingly routine challenge in postoperative care. As the growing spectre of antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms begins to invade each therapeutic arena, a critical analysis of the risk factors for infectious complications and recommendations for their prevention (or rapid recognition and treatment) should be undertaken. In this contribution, the determinants of infection are defined and the spectrum of disease processes that comprise postoperative infections are examined. Proposed prevention strategies are reviewed critically (as are current standards for diagnosis and treatment), with the hope of utilizing the best available evidence to guide clinical practices.