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Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common health-care-associated infections in developing countries, but they also represent a substantial epidemiological burden in high-income countries. The prevention of these infections is complex and requires the integration of a range of preventive measures before, during, and after surgery. No international guidelines are available and inconsistencies in the interpretation of evidence and recommendations in national guidelines have been identified. Considering the prevention of SSIs as a priority for patient safety, WHO has developed evidence-based and expert consensus-based recommendations on the basis of an extensive list of preventive measures. We present in this Review 16 recommendations specific to the intraoperative and postoperative periods. The WHO recommendations were developed with a global perspective and they take into account the balance between benefits and harms, the evidence quality level, cost and resource use implications, and patient values and preferences.

Skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs) encompass a variety of pathological conditions that involve the skin and underlying subcutaneous tissue, fascia, or muscle, ranging from simple superficial infections to severe necrotizing infections. SSTIs are a frequent clinical problem in surgical departments. In order to clarify key issues in the management of SSTIs, a task force of experts met in Bertinoro, Italy, on June 28, 2018, for a specialist multidisciplinary consensus conference under the auspices of the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) and the Surgical Infection Society Europe (SIS-E). The multifaceted nature of these infections has led to a collaboration among general and emergency surgeons, intensivists, and infectious disease specialists, who have shared these clinical practice recommendations.

Background: While selective use of antibiotics for infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) in acute pancreatitis (AP) is recommended, studies indicate a high rate of inadequate treatment. Methods: A search of PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases was conducted, focusing on primary research and meta-analyses. Data were categorized based on core concepts, and a narrative synthesis was performed. Results: The search identified a total of 1016 publications. After evaluating 203 full texts and additional sources from the grey literature, 80 studies were included in the review. The answers obtained were: (1) Preventive treatment does not decrease the incidence of IPN or mortality. Given the risks of bacterial resistance and fungal infections, antibiotics should be reserved for highly suspected or confirmed IPN; (2) The diagnosis of IPN does not always require microbiological samples, as clinical suspicion or computed tomography signs can suffice. Early diagnosis and treatment may be improved by using biomarkers such as procalcitonin and novel microbiological methods; (3) When indicated, early initiation of antibiotics is a key determinant in reducing mortality associated with IPN; (4) Antibiotics with good penetration into pancreatic tissue covering Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria should be used. Routine antifungal therapy is not recommended; (5) The step-up approach, including antibiotics, is the standard for IPN management; (6) Antibiotic duration should be kept to a minimum and should be based on the quality of source control and patient condition. Conclusions: Early antibiotic therapy is essential for the treatment of IPN, but prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended in AP. High-quality randomized controlled trials are required to better understand the role of antibiotics and antifungals in AP management.

Introduction Limited evidence has been reported for surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing surgery who are carriers of extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales (ESCR-E). A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the risk of postoperative infections in adult inpatients colonised with ESCR-E before surgery. Methods The Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched between January 2011 and April 2022, following PRISMA indications. Random effects meta-analysis was used to quantify the association between ESCR-E colonisation and infection. Results Among the 467 articles reviewed, 9 observational studies encompassing 7219 adult patients undergoing surgery were included. The ESCR-E colonisation rate was 13.7% (95% CI 7.7–19.7). The most commonly reported surgeries included abdominal surgery (44%) and liver transplantation (LT; 33%). The SSI rate was 23.2% (95% CI 13.2–33.1). Pooled incidence risk was 0.36 (95% CI 0.22–0.50) vs 0.13 (95% CI 0.02–0.24) for any postoperative infection and 0.28 (95% CI 0.18–0.38) vs 0.17 (95% CI 0.07–0.26) for SSIs in ESCR-E carriers vs noncarriers, respectively. In ESCR-E carriers, the ESCR-E infection ratio was 7 times higher than noncarriers. Postoperative infection risk was higher in carriers versus noncarriers following LT. Sources of detected heterogeneity between studies included ESCR-E colonisation and the geographic region of origin. Conclusions Patients colonised with ESCR-E before surgery had increased incidence rates of post-surgical infections and SSIs compared to noncarriers. Our results suggest considering the implementation of pre-surgical screening for detecting ESCR-E colonisation status according to the type of surgery and the local epidemiology.

Despite evidence supporting the effectiveness of best practices of infection prevention and management, many surgeons worldwide fail to implement them. Evidence-based practices tend to be underused in routine practice. Surgeons with knowledge in surgical infections should provide feedback to prescribers and integrate best practices among surgeons and implement changes within their team. Identifying a local opinion leader to serve as a champion within the surgical department may be important. The “surgeon champion” can integrate best clinical practices of infection prevention and management, drive behavior change in their colleagues, and interact with both infection control teams in promoting antimicrobial stewardship.

Objective. Although differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) usually has an indolent course, some cases show a poor prognosis; therefore, risk stratification is required. The objective of this study is to compare the predictive ability of classical risk stratification systems proposed by the European Thyroid Association (ETA) and American Thyroid Association (ATA) with the system proposed by Tuttle et al. in 2010, based on the response to initial therapy (RIT). Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 176 cases of DTC with a median follow-up period of 7.0 years. Each patient was stratified using ETA, ATA, and RIT systems. Negative predictive value (NPV) and positive predictive value (PPV) were determined. The area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was calculated in order to compare the predictive ability. Results. RIT showed a NPV of 97.7%, better than NPV of ETA and ATA systems (93.9% and 94.9%, resp.). ETA and ATA systems showed poor PPV (40.3% and 41%, resp.), while RIT showed a PPV of 70.8%. The area under ROC curve was 0.7535 for ETA, 0.7876 for ATA, and 0.9112 for RIT, showing statistical significant differences P < 0.05 . Conclusions. RIT predicts the long-term outcome of DTC better than ETA/ATA systems, becoming a useful system to adapt management strategies.

Abstract Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a complicated soft tissue infection frequently associated with severe sepsis if an early medical and surgical treatment is not performed. We report two postoperative cases of severe NF after oophorectomy and colorectal resection. Because of the similarity with more benign skin infections at the early steps, clinical suspicion is crucial. Surgical exploration and resection will provide both the diagnosis confirming necrotizing infection of the fascia with vessels and treatment. Also, empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics must be initiated as soon as possible. Regardless of the presence of risk factors, NF is a condition with a high mortality rate and only an expeditious and undelayed treatment may improve the patient’s outcome. Surgical focus control requires wide and repeated resections, and planned reconstructive plastic surgery might be necessary.

Induction of pneumonia in C57Bl/6 mice by intranasal inoculation with 106 cfu of Streptococcus pneumoniae resulted in sustained expression of interleukin (IL)-6 mRNA in lungs and increases in lung and plasma IL-6 concentrations. In IL-6-deficient (IL-6−/−) mice, pneumonia was associated with higher lung levels of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-1β, and interferon-γ and of the antiinflammatory cytokine IL-10 than in wild type (IL-6+/+) mice (all P < .05). Also, the plasma concentrations of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors were higher in IL-6−/− mice (P < .05), while the acute-phase protein response was strongly attenuated (P < .01). Lungs harvested from IL-6−/− mice 40 h after inoculation contained more S. pneumoniae colonies (P < .05). IL-6−/− mice died significantly earlier from pneumococcal pneumonia than did IL-6+/+ mice (P < .05). During pneumococcal pneumonia, IL-6 down-regulates the activation of the cytokine network in the lung and contributes to host defense.