wound debris and flushes air con-
taminants before closure, which
is especially important at the con-
clusion of joint replacement
cases.
5. Use antimicrobial
sutures
On a suture, it takes only 100
staphylococci per gram of tissue
for an SSI to develop. Sutures
used in the surgical cavity and to
close the surgical wound can be
colonized with bacteria, which
can lead to the development of
biofilm that ultimately impedes
the body's ability to fight infec-
tion.
Antimicrobial sutures are an
easy infection prevention interven-
tion to prevent SSIs. They feel and
work the same as standard
sutures, so surgeons shouldn't
resist making the transition, and
they're relatively inexpensive. My
former hospital system converted
to antimicrobial suture for an addi-
tional $35,000 per year. That's a rel-
atively insignificant supply
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 6 5
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