 |
| A Bair-Hugger or other body warming device will help the fight against hypothermia during laparotomy. |
Many of us overuse antibiotics postoperatively, which can lead to side effects, such as vomiting and diarrhea, and antibiotic resistance in our patients.
There are, however, many other ways to reduce the infection rate in surgical patients. In human surgery, such practices have enabled a 25 percent reduction in nosocomial infections, also called hospital-acquired infections.
The standard for most elective procedures is to give an intravenous antibiotic such as cefazolin 30 minutes before the skin incision, and every 90 minutes under anesthesia. Specific procedures (e.g. colorectal surgery) may require specific antibiotics.
Beyond antibiotics, there are a number of ways to prevent infections.
Oxygenation
Good oxygenation of the patient allows killing of bacteria via oxidative processes. Preoxygenation and short-term postoperative oxygenation can therefore be beneficial to fight surgical site infection.
There are other obvious benefits, especially for patients with cardiac or respiratory diseases and brachycephalic patients who will also benefit from postoperative oxygenation.
Enhancing oxygenation also requires good perfusion, which entails giving IV fluids. In most healthy stable patients, lactated Ringer’s solution is administered at 10 ml/kg/hr. We have all experienced the seemingly stable patient undergoing a the most “routine” proc...
Copyright 2009 BowTie Inc.
Click here to read the rest of this article from Veterinary Practice News
