Surgical Site Infection Prevention Blog

Silver plated wound dressings are effective at preventing infection -- a number of studies have proven it.  But does it makes sense to use silver wound dressings for every surgery that's performed?  Do certain surgeries pose such a high risk of infection that silver wound dressings should be standard protocol?

"Today's Wound Clinic" posed a few key questions to Tom Miller, Argentum Medical, about Silverlon® Negative Pressure Dressings in a recent article entitled "NPWT Adjunctive Spotlight."  Questions you may also have been wondering about...

A recent study conducted by the University of South Florida's Department of Surgery concluded there was a statistically significant decrease in the postoperative pain experienced by patients whose wounds were dressed with Silverlon® silver antimicrobial dressings.  This resulted in decreased pain medication used and trended toward subsequent lower cost for pain medication.

Young girl is doing great after receiving a first of its kind procedure in Tampa that left her with an extraordinary arm. Watch this video to hear her amazing story.

Antibiotics Ineffective at Treating Increasing Number of Infections

An article appeared on April 7, 2011 in Medical News Today entitled "Drug Resistant Microorganisms Getting Out of Control Worldwide." 

Previous studies have found that 2.3% to 3.4% of children undergoing cardiac surgery develop a Surgical Site Infection.  Nurses at the Levine Children’s Hospital, in Charlotte, N.C., initiated an intervention to provide an antiseptic bath within 6 hours before all scheduled heart surgeries for pediatric patients.  The outcome of this study is promising. 

Reducing surgical infections is a primary concern for hospitals throughout the world. Introducing robotic nurses into the operating room may be an effective solution for reducing infection.

A randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of Silverlon® in preventing surgical site infection following colorectal surgery is being sponsored by the University of South Florida. 

The following article was recently featured in the September 14, 2010 issue of Healthcare Purchasing News and was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.

With surgical site infection rates soaring and the cost for treatment continuing to rise even higher, health care institutions are constantly searching for solutions to this mounting problem.