Rethinking How We Use Surgical Antibiotics

Abstract not available. Introduction provided instead.

We stand on the precipice of change in how antibiotics can be effectively used during surgery. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a major burden to the US health care system, accounting for roughly 20% of all health care infections and significantly increasing cost, length of hospital stay, readmission and reoperation rates, morbidity, and mortality.¹ SSIs are multifactorial and involve pharmacologic, operating-room environment, and patient-specific factors. Data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample (NIS) showed that SSIs can extend hospital stays by up to 10 days while increasing expense by more than $20,000 per inpatient admission. Recent moves from a volume-based health care model to a value-driven model demand, now more than ever, that we find low-cost, evidence-based, innovative solutions to reduce SSIs in order to improve clinical outcomes and health care use. Cost-effectiveness is a relatively new yet powerful influence on how we must evaluate medical research and clinical care.