Opportunities for system level improvement in antibiotic use across the surgical pathway

Optimizing antibiotic prescribing across the surgical pathway (before, during, and after surgery) is a key aspect of tackling important drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and simultaneously decreasing the burden of infection at the global level. In the UK alone, 10 million patients undergo surgery every year (The Royal College of Anaesthetists, 2015), which is equivalent to 60% of the annual hospital admissions having a surgical intervention (Anon, 2016). The overwhelming majority of surgical procedures require effectively limited delivery of antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent infections (Boucher et al., 2009; Bratzler et al., 2013).
Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Perspective Source Type: research