The appearance of a surgical infection lengthens hospital stay from seven to fourteen days on average.

-Infections are the direct cause of the greater part of the postoperative mortality in general surgery

– there are a number of studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between the earliness with which starts the right treatment and the expectations of patients with severe sepsis survival

Granada, October 2010- the appearance of a surgical infection lengthens hospital stay by an average of 7 to 14 days ”, says Dr. Javier Arias, Coordinator of the Spanish Association of Surgeons (ACS). Although the economic cost of the infection is difficult to calculate, since that depends on several variables, in general, we can say that at least doubling the expected hospital stay costs and triples variable costs arising from procedures and additional drugs ”, adds.

According to the specialist, as well as the high social and economic costs, infections are the direct cause of the greater part of the postoperative mortality in general surgery ”. In addition, it contributes greatly as adjuvant to a high proportion of deaths attributable to other surgical complications.

One of the most common manifestations of surgical infection is severe sepsis, whose incidence is increasing, mainly due to two factors: on the one hand, because they make more aggressive interventions in patients of older or risk, and on the other hand, because bodies are becoming common antimicrobial resistancebecoming more difficult for the prophylaxis and treatment of these infections.

In order to update knowledge on this issue, these days is celebrated in Granada the 4th advanced course of severe Sepsis in the surgical patient ”, sponsored by AstraZeneca. During this Edition, and explains Dr. Arias, and have increased the proportion of practical content, given the effectiveness of physical measures in the prevention of serious nosocomial infections, an issue on antisepsis and measures of barrier, which will try to review recent evidence on the matter has been introduced ”.

Also – says the Dr. Javier Arias – the rate of infection after emergency surgery almost triples that of scheduled surgery. Within the scheduled surgery, the hepatobiliopancreática is that have higher risk, followed by the Colorectal ”.

On the other hand, there are a number of studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between the earliness with which starts the treatment, in particular, a correct antibiotic treatment and the expectations of survival in patients with severe sepsis. This is the main reason that antibiotic treatment should be initially empirical and we should not wait until you get an identification of the causative organism ”, explains Dr. Arias.

Challenges and progress in the treatment

The most recent trends in the management of severe infection in postoperative patient point to earlier diagnosis and more tuned evolutionary track through the use of plasma biological markers. Explains Dr. Arias, this would begin a more early antibiotic treatment, monitor its effectiveness and adjust their duration in the most accurate way possible, thus reducing the side effects and induction of resistance ”.

On the other hand, the main pending in sepsis is the development of therapeutic tools that can positively influence the cascade of inflammatory mediators endogenous, responsible for ultimately much of the deleterious effects and multiple organ failure that characterize the severe sepsis tables ”, concludes Dr. Javier Arias.

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