title: Preventing surgical site infections.
abstract: Over the past 50 years, increased interest in the discipline of surgical infection has resulted in advances in post-surgical infection control. Early investigations focused on the importance of anaerobic microflora to postoperative infection and paved the way for significant improvements in prophylactic and therapeutic antibiotic treatment of surgical patients. Later research centered on the identification of risk factors to better predict postoperative infection rates. This article reviews the evolution of postoperative infection control and highlights antibiotic prophylaxis in specific clinical situations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tulane University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112-2699, USA. ronald.nichols@tulane.edu
authors.forename: Ronald Lee
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000266:history*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000266:history* / Q000517:prevention & control