Infection rates, patient stays drop with new medical device

Hospitals concerned about their infection rates may want to consider the use of a new pain-relief device that potentially offers a two-pronged benefit-the reduction of pain and infections at surgical sites.

Results of the infection surveillance study were presented at the 47th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in Chicago recently.

"In the discussions I've had with pharmacists regarding [the study], they say that what they see in the data is an opportunity to either initiate or expand multi-module strategies for preventing surgical-site infections.

"The concern is that the more we use antibiotics, the greater the chance for developing resistance, so any time we can save antibiotics for specific utilization and avoid having to use them as a broad-spectrum treatment option, the better. Pharmacists can use these data to create a multidisciplinary approach to establish strategies that will minimize the development of surgical-site infections, better manage these types of infections when they do occur, and not diminish the broader utilization of antibiotics," Thorson added.

Thorson and his co-researchers hope that the results of their study will be a catalyst to help many hospitals reduce both their infection rates and their costs as well as aid them in pain management.

THE AUTHOR is a writer based in the Atlanta area.