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Surgical site infections (SSIs) represent a potential complication of surgical procedures, with a significant impact on mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs. Patients undergoing cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery are often considered patients at high risk of developing SSIs. This consensus document aims to provide information on the management of peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis for the pediatric and neonatal population undergoing cardiac and non-cardiac thoracic surgery. The following scenarios were considered: (1) cardiac surgery for the correction of congenital heart disease and/or valve surgery; (2) cardiac catheterization without the placement of prosthetic material; (3) cardiac catheterization with the placement of prosthetic material; (4) implantable cardiac defibrillator or epicardial pacemaker placement; (5) patients undergoing ExtraCorporal Membrane Oxygenation; (6) cardiac tumors and heart transplantation; (7) non-cardiac thoracic surgery with thoracotomy; (8) non-cardiac thoracic surgery using video-assisted thoracoscopy; (9) elective chest drain placement in the pediatric patient; (10) elective chest drain placement in the newborn; (11) thoracic drain placement in the trauma setting. This consensus provides clear and shared indications, representing the most complete and up-to-date collection of practice recommendations in pediatric cardiac and thoracic surgery, in order to guide physicians in the management of the patient, standardizing approaches and avoiding the abuse and misuse of antibiotics.

Pediatric neurosurgery is a highly specialized branch of surgery in which surgical site infections (SSIs) are potentially serious complications that can also adversely affect a good surgical outcome, compromising functional recovery and, in some cases, even putting the patient’s life at risk. The main aim of this consensus document is to provide clinicians with a series of recommendations on antimicrobial prophylaxis for neonates and children undergoing neurosurgery. The following scenarios were considered: (1) craniotomy or cranial/cranio-facial approach to craniosynostosis; (2) neurosurgery with a trans-nasal-trans-sphenoidal approach; (3) non-penetrating head injuries; (4) penetrating head fracture; (5) spinal surgery (extradural and intradural); (6) shunt surgery or neuroendoscopy; (7) neuroendovascular procedures. Patients undergoing neurosurgery often undergo peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis, with different schedules, not always supported by scientific evidence. This consensus provides clear and shared indications, based on the most updated literature. This work has been made possible by the multidisciplinary contribution of experts belonging to the most important Italian scientific societies, and represents, in our opinion, the most complete and up-to-date collection of recommendations on the behavior to be held in the peri-operative setting in this type of intervention, in order to guide physicians in the management of the patient, standardize approaches and avoid abuse and misuse of antibiotics.

For many years, it was clearly shown that surgical procedures might be associated with surgical site infection (SSI). Many scientific institutions prepared guidelines to use in surgery to reduce abuse and misuse of antibiotics. However, in the general guidelines for surgical antibiotic prophylaxis, plastic surgical procedures are not addressed or are only marginally discussed, and children were almost systematically excluded. The main aim of this Consensus document is to provide clinicians with recommendations on antimicrobial prophylaxis for pediatric patients undergoing plastic surgery. The following scenarios were considered: clean plastic surgery in elective procedures with an exclusive skin and subcutis involvement; clean-contaminated/contaminated plastic surgery in elective procedures with an exclusive skin and subcutis involvement; elective plastic surgery with use of local flaps; elective plastic surgery with the use of grafts; prolonged elective plastic surgery; acute burns; clean contused lacerated wounds without bone exposure; high-risk contused lacerated wounds or with bone exposure; contused lacerated wound involving the oral mucosa; plastic surgery following human bite; plastic surgery following animal bite; plastic surgery with tissue expander insertion. Our Consensus document shows that antimicrobial perioperative prophylaxis in pediatric patients undergoing plastic surgery is recommended in selected cases. While waiting the results of further pediatric studies, the application of uniform and shared protocols in these procedures will improve surgical practice, with a reduction in SSIs and consequent rationalization of resources and costs, as well as limiting the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance.

Ocular surgery encompasses a wide range of procedures, including surgery of the tear ducts, eyelid, cornea and conjunctiva, lens, ocular muscle, and vitreoretinal and iris surgery. Operations are also performed for the removal of tumors, repairs of ocular trauma and, finally, corneal transplantation. Antibiotic prophylaxis for the prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs) in ocular surgery is a complex field in which shared lines of action are absent. In light of the scarcity of shared evidence in the use of ocular antimicrobial prophylaxis for the pediatric population, this consensus document aims to provide clinicians with a series of recommendations on antimicrobial prophylaxis for patients of neonatal and pediatric age undergoing eye surgery. The following scenarios are considered: (1) intraocular surgery; (2) extraocular surgery; (3) ocular trauma; (4) ocular neoplasm; (5) ocular surface transplantations; (6) corneal grafts. This work has been made possible by the multidisciplinary contribution of experts belonging to the most important Italian scientific societies and represents, in our opinion, the most complete and up-to-date collection of recommendations regarding clinical actions in the peri-operative environment in eye surgery. The application of uniform and shared protocols aims to improve surgical practice, through the standardization of procedures, with a consequent reduction of SSIs, also limiting the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance.

Purpose Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) prevents surgical site infections (SSI). In orthopaedic surgery, the use of prolonged SAP (PSAP) has been reported in daily routine, despite guidelines advising against it. Therefore, we asked: What is the proportion of PSAP use, defined as administration of SAP ≥24 h after elective orthopaedic surgery? Are there patient- and surgery-related predictors of PSAP use? Methods This cross-sectional analysis investigated 1292 patients who underwent elective orthopaedic surgery including total joint arthroplasties at one Swiss centre between 2015 and 2017. Patient comorbidities, surgical characteristics and occurrence of SSI at 90 days in PSAP group were compared to the SAP group (< 24 h post-operative). Results PSAP use was 12% (155 of 1292). Patient-related factors associated with PSAP compared to the SAP group included older age (63 vs. 58y; p  < 0.001), higher BMI (29 vs. 27 kg/m 2 ; p  < 0.001), ASA classification ≥3 (31% vs. 17%; p  < 0.001) and lung disease (17% vs. 9%; p  = 0.002). Surgery-related factors associated with PSAP were use of prosthetics (62% vs. 45%; p  < 0.001), surgery of the knee (65% vs. 25%; p  < 0.001), longer surgery duration (87 vs. 68 min; p  < 0.001) and presence of drains (90% vs. 65%; p  < 0.001). All four SSI occurred in the SAP group (0 vs. 4; p  = 1.0). Surgeons administered PSAP with varying frequencies; proportions ranged from 0 to 33%. Conclusion PSAP use and SSI proportions were lower than reported in the literature. Several patient- and surgery-related factors associated with PSAP use were identified and some were potentially modifiable. Also, experienced surgeons seemed to implement differing approaches regarding the duration of SAP administration.

According to surgeons, there were non-traumatic surgeries and no viscera or tract entered during surgeries. According to National Research Council criteria for operative wounds classification, it is classified as clean wound where elective, non-traumatic surgery done, no viscera or tract (respiratory, g.i, biliary, and genitourinary) entered, no infection at site, and no break in technique appear. [...]findings of our study are similar regarding not to give antibiotics in all the cases. In terms of duration of SAP, out of 198 patients, 124 patients were given antibiotics for <24 h and remaining patients were given for >24 h. An important finding in the field of microbes has been the understanding of the roles of the human native microbiome as critical defense against dangerous infections. [...]during prolonged chemoprophylaxis, which can also kill the native biome, we need to consider following point to preserve it:

Abstract BACKGROUND: Intrawound vancomycin powder has been studied extensively in spinal fusion surgeries and been found to reduce rates of surgical site infections (SSIs) significantly. Despite its success in spinal surgeries, topical vancomycin has not been extensively studied with respect to cranial neurosurgery. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of intrawound topical vancomycin for prevention of SSIs following open craniotomies. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed a large series of 350 patients from 2011 to 2015 in a pre/postintervention study of use of topical vancomycin to reduce postoperative craniotomy infection rates. We had a preintervention control group of 225 patients and a postintervention group of 125 patients that received intrawound topical vancomycin. RESULTS: Our preintervention incidence of SSI was 2.2% and this was significantly reduced to 0% following introduction of topical vancomycin (P < .5). An ad hoc cost analysis suggested a cost savings of ${\\$}$ 59 965 with the use of topical vancomycin for craniotomies. CONCLUSION: Our study found a significant reduction in SSI rates after introduction of topical vancomycin. Thus, this simple intervention should be considered in all open craniotomy patients as both infection prophylaxis and a potential cost saving intervention.

Background Pre-incisional antibiotics are recommended for all patients having cesarean delivery, despite emerging concerns regarding effects on the infant. In this feasibility blinded randomized controlled trial we aimed to test research processes in low-risk women receiving cefazolin or placebo prior to elective cesarean delivery. Methods The trial was prospectively registered (ACTRN12619001705178). Eligible women were aged ≥ 18 and < 40 years, ≥ 37 weeks gestation, at low risk of surgical site infection (SSI) and recruited from a single tertiary centre. We reported proportions of women eligible and consenting; adherence to perioperative infection prevention; blinding adequacy of staff using Bang’s blinding index; SSI surveillance and diagnosis according to the Centre for Disease Control definitions and patient reported outcome measures using validated questionnaires up to 90 days. Results We screened 1651 women, with 1245 (75%) ineligible based on body mass index or presence of diabetes. Of 287 eligible women, 30 were randomized (11%) with 15 in each group. Reasons for non-participation included “wanting antibiotics” (68, 27%), “no reason” (62, 25%) and lack of research staff (33, 13%). Compliance with perioperative infection prevention occurred in 5 of 7 steps. Spontaneous placental separation occurred in 25 (83%) and Comfeel dressing in 29 (97%). Blinding was adequate for all staff groups. SSI surveillance occurred in 156 of 210 (74%) timepoints. SSI occurred in two patients who received pre-incisional cefazolin and were successfully treated as outpatients. Patient reported outcome questionnaires were completed at 136 of 180 (76%) timepoints. There was no difference in maternal health-related quality of life between the groups. Conclusions Feasibility was impacted by the high-risk population and patient desire for antibiotics. Adherence to perioperative infection prevention practices were high but incomplete. These study processes could be effectively applied in a larger population, targeting low risk maternity patients. Trial registration Prospectively registered 4/12/2019 with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619001705178).

Perioperative antibiotic use is a common reason for antibiotic misuse. Evidence suggests that adherence to SAP guidelines may improve outcomes. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of pharmacist-led antibiotic stewardship interventions on SAP guideline compliance. The study was conducted at an Orthopedic Department of a tertiary care medical center. SAP compliance and antibiotic exposure in the pre-intervention and intervention period was compared using chi-square, Fisher exact, and Mann-Whitney tests, as appropriate. Prophylactic antibiotic use in orthopedic joint arthroplasties (overall guideline adherence: agent, dose, frequency, duration), clinical outcomes (length of stay-LOS, number of surgical site infections-SSIs), antibiotic exposure and direct antibiotic costs were compared between pre-intervention and intervention periods. Significant improvement in mean SAP duration (by 42.9%, 4.08 ± 2.08 vs. 2.08 ± 1.90 days, p ˂ 0.001), and overall guideline adherence regarding antibiotic use (by 56.2%, from 2% to 58.2%, p ˂ 0.001) were observed. A significant decrease was observed in antibiotic exposure in SAP (by 41%, from 6.07 ± 0.05 to 3.58 ± 4.33 DDD/patient, p ˂ 0.001), average prophylactic antibiotic cost (by 54.8%, 9278.79 ± 6094.29 vs. 3598.16 ± 3354.55 HUF/patient), and mean LOS (by 37.2%, from 11.22 ± 6.96 to 7.62 ± 3.02 days, p < 0.001); and a slight decrease in the number of confirmed SSIs was found between the two periods (by 1.8%, from 3% to 1.2%, p = 0.21). Continuous presence of the clinical pharmacist led to significant improvement in SAP guideline adherence, which was accompanied by decreased antibiotic exposure and cost.