How hospitals worldwide prevent and manage infections in surgery: a global survey

What is it about?

Infections after surgery and antibiotic resistance are major problems in hospitals everywhere. We surveyed health care workers from the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery about how their hospitals organize infection prevention and control (IPC), antibiotic prescribing and source control. Three hundred four respondents from 72 countries took part in 2021. Most hospitals had a multidisciplinary infection prevention team (90%), but fewer had an antimicrobial stewardship team (69%). Protocols for surgical antibiotic prophylaxis were common, yet about a quarter of hospitals did not monitor surgical site infections or antibiotic use. Involving patients and families in infection prevention was considered of little importance by most respondents, and only half rated awareness of antimicrobial resistance as important. Most felt the COVID-19 pandemic had raised awareness of infection control.

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Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash

Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The survey reveals important gaps in how infections are prevented and managed along the surgical pathway, from surveillance to patient involvement. Based on the results, the authors propose 15 statements for an organizational model that hospitals can use to strengthen infection prevention, antibiotic stewardship and source control in surgery worldwide.

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