title: Postoperative fever.
abstract: Postoperative fever should alert the caregiver to the possibility of an infection complicating the recovery of the patient, but the presence of fever is not a reliable indicator of the presence of infection, and the absence of fever does not guarantee that the postoperative patient is infection-free. It is necessary to recognize that surgical infections add considerable cost to the care of patients. In a study published in 1993, postoperative infection added more than $12,000 to the cost of the patient's care; at present, this cost is certainly greater. The presence of postoperative fever in the absence of infection adds significantly to patient care--more than $9000 when compared with the uninfected patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Perlino
mesh_terms: D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000150:complications; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines