other screenings reveal the presence of staph or multi-drug resistant
organisms.
There's some debate over how many antiseptic showers patients
should take before surgery in order to net the optimal effect. We'd
once recommended a shower a day for 5 days, but found that some
patients ended up with dry, cracked skin — not a positive outcome
for infection prevention purposes. So we scaled back to a recommen-
dation of at least the night before surgery.
Because the skin is a patient's first line of defense against infection,
we've found it extremely effective to conduct a full-body assessment
on the morning of surgery. We look for cuts and scrapes, burns and
blisters, pressure sores or any other skin injuries. Anything that dam-
ages the skin can allow the entry of bacteria, and any infection in the
body can spread to
the joint replacement.
3. Deliver antibi-
otics on time
The Surgical Care
Improvement Project
recommends the deliv-
ery of antibiotics to
surgical patients with-
in an hour of making
the incision to ensure
an adequate concen-
tration at the operative
site.
To time it perfectly,
hang the IV antibiotics
3 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6
