Q. I have a friend who went into the hospital and got sick from an infection. I am 79 years old and will be hospitalized briefly after routine surgery. What can I do to protect myself?
Sadly, there is research that does confirm your concerns. A check of nearly 1,300 ICUs in 75 countries found that about half of the patients in these units had infections associated with a risk of dying in the hospital.
“Infection and related sepsis are the leading cause of death in non-cardiac ICUs, with mortality rates that reach 60 percent and account for approximately 40 percent of total ICU expenditures,” the authors report in the December 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The lungs were the most common site of infection, accounting for 64 percent of infections, followed by the abdomen and bloodstream. “The study demonstrates that infections remain a common problem in ICU patients,” the authors write.
There are steps you can take to reduce hospital infections including:
1. Ask that hospital staff clean their hands before treating you, and ask visitors to clean their hands, too.
2. Before your doctor uses a stethoscope, ask that the diaphragm (the flat surface) be wiped with alcohol.
3. If you need a "central line" catheter, ask your doctor about the benefits of one that is antibiotic-impregnated or silver-chlorhexidine coated to reduce infections.
4. If you need surgery, choose a surgeon with a low infection rate.
5. Beginning three to five days before surgery, shower or bathe daily with chlorhexidine soap.
6. On the day of your operation, remind your doctor that you may need an antibiotic one hour before the first incision.
7. Ask your doctor about keeping you warm during surgery.
8. Do not shave the surgical site.
9. Avoid a urinary tract catheter if possible. It is a common cause of infection.
10. If you must have an IV, make sure that it’s inserted and removed under clean conditions and changed every three to four days.
Also, if you need assistance before or after your surgery, contact Home Instead Senior Care. CAREGivers can provide non-medical assistance and companionship that will help you prepare and recover from your operation. Good luck.
To learn more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Frederick County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627.
For more information about the study, log on to http://chinese.eurekalert.org/en/pub_releases/2009-12/jaaj-pod120307.php.
For the 15 steps you can take to reduce hospital infections, log on to Reduce Infection Deaths at http://www.hospitalinfection.org/protectyourself.shtml.
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