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Initiatives to reduce postoperative surgical site infections of the head and neck cancer surgery with a special emphasis on developing countries

Haque M, McKimm J, Godman B, Abu Bakar M, Sartelli M

Expert Rev Anticancer Ther, 2019 01;19(1):81-92.
PMID: 30394844 DOI: 10.1080/14737140.2019.1544497

Introduction: Surgery in patients with head and neck cancers is frequently complicated by multiple stages of procedure that includes significant surgical removal of all or part of an organ with cancer, tissue reconstruction, and extensive neck dissection. Postoperative wound infections, termed 'surgical site infections' (SSIs) are a significant impediment to head-and-neck cancer surgery and recovery, and need to be addressed. Areas covered: Approximately 10-45% of patients undergoing head-and-neck cancers surgery develop SSIs. SSIs can lead to delayed wound healing, increased morbidity and mortality as well as costs. Consequently, SSIs need to be avoided where possible, as even the surgery itself impacts on patients' subsequent activities and their quality of life, which is exacerbated by SSIs. Several risk factors for SSIs need to be considered to reduce future rates, and care is also needed in the selection and duration of antibiotic prophylaxis. Expert commentary: Head and neck surgeons should give personalized care especially to patients at high risk of SSIs. Such patients include those who have had chemoradiotherapy and need reconstructive surgery, and patients from lower and middle-income countries and from poorer communities in high income countries, who often have high levels of co-morbidity because of resource constraints.
Fulltext Health care-associated infections - an overview

Haque M, Sartelli M, McKimm J, Abu Bakar M

Infect Drug Resist, 2018;11:2321-2333.
PMID: 30532565 DOI: 10.2147/IDR.S177247

Health care-associated infections (HCAIs) are infections that occur while receiving health care, developed in a hospital or other health care facility that first appear 48 hours or more after hospital admission, or within 30 days after having received health care. Multiple studies indicate that the common types of adverse events affecting hospitalized patients are adverse drug events, HCAIs, and surgical complications. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention identifies that nearly 1.7 million hospitalized patients annually acquire HCAIs while being treated for other health issues and that more than 98,000 patients (one in 17) die due to these. Several studies suggest that simple infection-control procedures such as cleaning hands with an alcohol-based hand rub can help prevent HCAIs and save lives, reduce morbidity, and minimize health care costs. Routine educational interventions for health care professionals can help change their hand-washing practices to prevent the spread of infection. In support of this, the WHO has produced guidelines to promote hand-washing practices among member countries.
A narrative review of the effects of sugar-sweetened beverages on human health: A key global health issue

Haque M, McKimm J, Sartelli M, Samad N, Haque SZ, Bakar MA

J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol, 2020 03 03;27(1):e76-e103.
PMID: 32170920 DOI: 10.15586/jptcp.v27i1.666

The provision of healthy and safe food is vital for human health, and the addition of unnecessary sugars in foodstuffs is an important global issue, leading to multiple long- and short-term health issues and spiraling costs for individuals and governments alike. The negative effect of excess sugar consumption contributes to adverse health conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and poor oral health in both high and low resource settings. A key plank of governmental and health promotion bodies' nutritional guidance is to raise public awareness of "hidden" sugars, salt, and fats, such as found in processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and guide individuals to reduce their consumption. This rapid narrative review brings together some of the key issues identified in the literature around the consumption of SSBs, including patterns of consumption, the general impact on human health and nutrition, specific effects on oral health and the oral microbiome, and strategies to address over-consumption. The range of long-term adverse effects on health is often misunderstood or unknown by the public. However, some strategies have succeeded in reducing the consumption of SSBs, including public health strategies and interventions and the imposition of taxes or levies, and this article makes recommendations for action.
Fulltext Microbial Resistance Movements: An Overview of Global Public Health Threats Posed by Antimicrobial Resistance, and How Best to Counter

Dhingra S, Rahman NAA, Peile E, Rahman M, Sartelli M, Hassali MA, et al.

Front Public Health, 2020;8:535668.
PMID: 33251170 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.535668

Antibiotics changed medical practice by significantly decreasing the morbidity and mortality associated with bacterial infection. However, infectious diseases remain the leading cause of death in the world. There is global concern about the rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which affects both developed and developing countries. AMR is a public health challenge with extensive health, economic, and societal implications. This paper sets AMR in context, starting with the history of antibiotics, including the discovery of penicillin and the golden era of antibiotics, before exploring the problems and challenges we now face due to AMR. Among the factors discussed is the low level of development of new antimicrobials and the irrational prescribing of antibiotics in developed and developing countries. A fundamental problem is the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding antibiotics among medical practitioners, and we explore this aspect in some depth, including a discussion on the KAP among medical students. We conclude with suggestions on how to address this public health threat, including recommendations on training medical students about antibiotics, and strategies to overcome the problems of irrational antibiotic prescribing and AMR.
Fulltext Highlighting the gaps in quantifying the economic burden of surgical site infections associated with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria

Iskandar K, Sartelli M, Tabbal M, Ansaloni L, Baiocchi GL, Catena F, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2019;14:50.
PMID: 31832084 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-019-0266-x

Antibiotics are the pillar of surgery from prophylaxis to treatment; any failure is potentially a leading cause for increased morbidity and mortality. Robust data on the burden of SSI especially those due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) show variable rates between countries and geographical regions but accurate estimates of the incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) due to AMR and its related global economic impact are yet to be determined. Quantifying the burden of SSI treatment is an incentive to sensitize governments, healthcare systems, and the society to invest in quality improvement and sustainable development. However in the absence of a unified epidemiologically sound infection definition of SSI and a well-designed global surveillance system, the end result is a lack of accurate and reliable data that limits the comparability of estimates between countries and the possibility of tracking changes to inform healthcare professionals about the appropriateness of implemented infection prevention and control strategies. This review aims to highlight the reported gaps in surveillance methods, epidemiologic data, and evidence-based SSI prevention practices and in the methodologies undertaken for the evaluation of the economic burden of SSI associated with AMR bacteria. If efforts to tackle this problem are taken in isolation without a global alliance and data is still lacking generalizability and comparability, we may see the future as a race between the global research efforts for the advancement in surgery and the global alarming reports of the increased incidence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens threatening to undermine any achievement.
Fulltext Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: A Narrative Overview

Haque M, McKimm J, Sartelli M, Dhingra S, Labricciosa FM, Islam S, et al.

Risk Manag Healthc Policy, 2020;13:1765-1780.
PMID: 33061710 DOI: 10.2147/RMHP.S269315

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are a major source of morbidity and mortality and are the second most prevalent cause of death. Furthermore, it has been reported that for every one-hundred patients admitted to hospital, seven patients in high-income economies and ten in emerging and low-income economies acquire at least one type of HCAI. Currently, almost all pathogenic microorganisms have developed antimicrobial resistance, and few new antimicrobials are being developed and brought to market. The literature search for this narrative review was performed by searching bibliographic databases (including Google Scholar and PubMed) using the search terms: "Strategies," "Prevention," and "Healthcare-Associated Infections," followed by snowballing references cited by critical articles. We found that although hand hygiene is a centuries-old concept, it is still the primary strategy used around the world to prevent HCAIs. It forms one of a bundle of approaches used to clean and maintain a safe hospital environment and to stop the transmission of contagious and infectious microorganisms, including multidrug-resistant microbes. Finally, antibiotic stewardship also has a crucial role in reducing the impact of HCAIs through conserving currently available antimicrobials.
Fulltext Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries: a scattered picture

Iskandar K, Molinier L, Hallit S, Sartelli M, Hardcastle TC, Haque M, et al.

Antimicrob Resist Infect Control, 2021 03 31;10(1):63.
PMID: 33789754 DOI: 10.1186/s13756-021-00931-w

Data on comprehensive population-based surveillance of antimicrobial resistance is lacking. In low- and middle-income countries, the challenges are high due to weak laboratory capacity, poor health systems governance, lack of health information systems, and limited resources. Developing countries struggle with political and social dilemma, and bear a high health and economic burden of communicable diseases. Available data are fragmented and lack representativeness which limits their use to advice health policy makers and orientate the efficient allocation of funding and financial resources on programs to mitigate resistance. Low-quality data means soaring rates of antimicrobial resistance and the inability to track and map the spread of resistance, detect early outbreaks, and set national health policy to tackle resistance. Here, we review the barriers and limitations of conducting effective antimicrobial resistance surveillance, and we highlight multiple incremental approaches that may offer opportunities to strengthen population-based surveillance if tailored to the context of each country.
coMpliAnce with evideNce-based cliniCal guidelines in the managemenT of acute biliaRy pancreAtitis): The MANCTRA-1 international audit

Podda M, Pacella D, Pellino G, Coccolini F, Giordano A, Di Saverio S, et al.

Pancreatology, 2022 Nov;22(7):902-916.
PMID: 35963665 DOI: 10.1016/j.pan.2022.07.007

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Reports about the implementation of recommendations from acute pancreatitis guidelines are scant. This study aimed to evaluate, on a patient-data basis, the contemporary practice patterns of management of biliary acute pancreatitis and to compare these practices with the recommendations by the most updated guidelines.
METHODS: All consecutive patients admitted to any of the 150 participating general surgery (GS), hepatopancreatobiliary surgery (HPB), internal medicine (IM) and gastroenterology (GA) departments with a diagnosis of biliary acute pancreatitis between 01/01/2019 and 31/12/2020 were included in the study. Categorical data were reported as percentages representing the proportion of all study patients or different and well-defined cohorts for each variable. Continuous data were expressed as mean and standard deviation. Differences between the compliance obtained in the four different subgroups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U, Student's t, ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests for continuous data, and the Chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test for categorical data.
RESULTS: Complete data were available for 5275 patients. The most commonly discordant gaps between daily clinical practice and recommendations included the optimal timing for the index CT scan (6.1%, χ2 6.71, P = 0.081), use of prophylactic antibiotics (44.2%, χ2 221.05, P
Ongoing strategies to improve the management of upper respiratory tract infections and reduce inappropriate antibiotic use particularly among lower and middle-income countries: findings and implications for the future

Godman B, Haque M, McKimm J, Abu Bakar M, Sneddon J, Wale J, et al.

Curr Med Res Opin, 2020 02;36(2):301-327.
PMID: 31794332 DOI: 10.1080/03007995.2019.1700947

Introduction: Antibiotics are indispensable to maintaining human health; however, their overuse has resulted in resistant organisms, increasing morbidity, mortality and costs. Increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health threat, resulting in multiple campaigns across countries to improve appropriate antimicrobial use. This includes addressing the overuse of antimicrobials for self-limiting infections, such as upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), particularly in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where there is the greatest inappropriate use and where antibiotic utilization has increased the most in recent years. Consequently, there is a need to document current practices and successful initiatives in LMICs to improve future antimicrobial use.Methodology: Documentation of current epidemiology and management of URTIs, particularly in LMICs, as well as campaigns to improve future antimicrobial use and their influence where known.Results: Much concern remains regarding the prescribing and dispensing of antibiotics for URTIs among LMICs. This includes considerable self-purchasing, up to 100% of pharmacies in some LMICs. However, multiple activities are now ongoing to improve future use. These incorporate educational initiatives among all key stakeholder groups, as well as legislation and other activities to reduce self-purchasing as part of National Action Plans (NAPs). Further activities are still needed however. These include increased physician and pharmacist education, starting in medical and pharmacy schools; greater monitoring of prescribing and dispensing practices, including the development of pertinent quality indicators; and targeted patient information and health education campaigns. It is recognized that such activities are more challenging in LMICs given more limited resources and a lack of healthcare professionals.Conclusion: Initiatives will grow across LMICs to reduce inappropriate prescribing and dispensing of antimicrobials for URTIs as part of NAPs and other activities, and these will be monitored.
Fulltext Acute abdomen in the immunocompromised patient: WSES, SIS-E, WSIS, AAST, and GAIS guidelines

Coccolini F, Improta M, Sartelli M, Rasa K, Sawyer R, Coimbra R, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2021 08 09;16(1):40.
PMID: 34372902 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-021-00380-1

Immunocompromised patients are a heterogeneous and diffuse category frequently presenting to the emergency department with acute surgical diseases. Diagnosis and treatment in immunocompromised patients are often complex and must be multidisciplinary. Misdiagnosis of an acute surgical disease may be followed by increased morbidity and mortality. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of surgical disease occur; these patients may seek medical assistance late because their symptoms are often ambiguous. Also, they develop unique surgical problems that do not affect the general population. Management of this population must be multidisciplinary.This paper presents the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES), Surgical Infection Society Europe (SIS-E), World Surgical Infection Society (WSIS), American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), and Global Alliance for Infection in Surgery (GAIS) joined guidelines about the management of acute abdomen in immunocompromised patients.
Fulltext Erratum to: IROA: International Register of Open Abdomen, preliminary results

Coccolini F, Montori G, Ceresoli M, Catena F, Ivatury R, Sugrue M, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2017;12:13.
PMID: 28286545 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-017-0127-4

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13017-017-0123-8.].
Fulltext IROA: International Register of Open Abdomen, preliminary results

Coccolini F, Montori G, Ceresoli M, Catena F, Ivatury R, Sugrue M, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2017;12:10.
PMID: 28239409 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-017-0123-8

BACKGROUND: No definitive data about open abdomen (OA) epidemiology and outcomes exist. The World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) and the Panamerican Trauma Society (PTS) promoted the International Register of Open Abdomen (IROA).
METHODS: A prospective observational cohort study including patients with an OA treatment. Data were recorded on a web platform (Clinical Registers®) through a dedicated website: www.clinicalregisters.org.
RESULTS: Four hundred two patients enrolled. Adult patients: 369 patients; Mean age: 57.39±18.37; 56% male; Mean BMI: 36±5.6. OA indication: Peritonitis (48.7%), Trauma (20.5%), Vascular Emergencies/Hemorrhage (9.4%), Ischemia (9.1%), Pancreatitis (4.2%),Post-operative abdominal-compartment-syndrome (3.9%), Others (4.2%). The most adopted Temporary-abdominal-closure systems were the commercial negative pressure ones (44.2%). During OA 38% of patients had complications; among them 10.5% had fistula. Definitive closure: 82.8%; Mortality during treatment: 17.2%. Mean duration of OA: 5.39(±4.83) days; Mean number of dressing changes: 0.88(±0.88). After-closure complications: (49.5%) and Mortality: (9%). No significant associations among TACT, indications, mortality, complications and fistula. A linear correlationexists between days of OA and complications (Pearson linear correlation = 0.326 p<0.0001) and with the fistula development (Pearson = 0.146 p= 0.016). Pediatric patients: 33 patients. Mean age: 5.91±(3.68) years; 60% male. Mortality: 3.4%; Complications: 44.8%; Fistula: 3.4%. Mean duration of OA: 3.22(±3.09) days.
CONCLUSION: Temporary abdominal closure is reliable and safe. The different techniques account for different results according to the different indications. In peritonitis commercial negative pressure temporary closure seems to improve results. In trauma skin-closure and Bogotà-bag seem to improve results.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02382770.
Open abdomen and entero-atmospheric fistulae: An interim analysis from the International Register of Open Abdomen (IROA)

Coccolini F, Ceresoli M, Kluger Y, Kirkpatrick A, Montori G, Salvetti F, et al.

Injury, 2019 Jan;50(1):160-166.
PMID: 30274755 DOI: 10.1016/j.injury.2018.09.040

INTRODUCTION: No definitive data describing associations between cases of Open Abdomen (OA) and Entero-atmospheric fistulae (EAF) exist. The World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) and the Panamerican Trauma Society (PTS) thus analyzed the International Register of Open Abdomen (IROA) to assess this question.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective analysis of adult patients enrolled in the IROA.
RESULTS: Among 649 adult patients with OA 58 (8.9%) developed EAF. Indications for OA were peritonitis (51.2%) and traumatic-injury (16.8%). The most frequently utilized temporary abdominal closure techniques were Commercial-NPWT (46.8%) and Bogotà-bag (21.9%). Mean OA days were 7.9 ± 18.22. Overall mortality rate was 29.7%, with EAF having no impact on mortality. Multivariate analysis associated cancer (p = 0.018), days of OA (p = 0.003) and time to provision-of-nutrition (p = 0.016) with EAF occurrence.
CONCLUSION: Entero-atmospheric fistulas are influenced by the duration of open abdomen treatment and by the nutritional status of the patient. Peritonitis, intestinal anastomosis, negative pressure and oral or enteral nutrition were not risk factors for EAF during OA treatment.
Fulltext Erratum to: The management of intra-abdominal infections from a global perspective: 2017 WSES guidelines for management of intra-abdominal infections

Sartelli M, Chichom-Mefire A, Labricciosa FM, Hardcastle T, Abu-Zidan FM, Adesunkanmi AK, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2017;12:36.
PMID: 28785302 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-017-0148-z

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13017-017-0141-6.].
Fulltext The management of intra-abdominal infections from a global perspective: 2017 WSES guidelines for management of intra-abdominal infections

Sartelli M, Chichom-Mefire A, Labricciosa FM, Hardcastle T, Abu-Zidan FM, Adesunkanmi AK, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2017;12:29.
PMID: 28702076 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-017-0141-6

Intra-abdominal infections (IAIs) are common surgical emergencies and have been reported as major contributors to non-trauma deaths in the emergency departments worldwide. The cornerstones of effective treatment of IAIs are early recognition, adequate source control, and appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Prompt resuscitation of patients with ongoing sepsis is of utmost important. In hospitals worldwide, non-acceptance of, or lack of access to, accessible evidence-based practices and guidelines result in overall poorer outcome of patients suffering IAIs. The aim of this paper is to promote global standards of care in IAIs and update the 2013 WSES guidelines for management of intra-abdominal infections.
Fulltext 2019 update of the WSES guidelines for management of Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infection in surgical patients

Sartelli M, Di Bella S, McFarland LV, Khanna S, Furuya-Kanamori L, Abuzeid N, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2019 02 28;14:8.
PMID: 30858872 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-019-0228-3

In the last three decades, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has increased in incidence and severity in many countries worldwide. The increase in CDI incidence has been particularly apparent among surgical patients. Therefore, prevention of CDI and optimization of management in the surgical patient are paramount. An international multidisciplinary panel of experts from the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) updated its guidelines for management of CDI in surgical patients according to the most recent available literature. The update includes recent changes introduced in the management of this infection.
Fulltext WSES/GAIS/WSIS/SIS-E/AAST global clinical pathways for patients with skin and soft tissue infections

Sartelli M, Coccolini F, Kluger Y, Agastra E, Abu-Zidan FM, Abbas AES, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2022 01 15;17(1):3.
PMID: 35033131 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-022-00406-2

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.Together, the World Society of Emergency Surgery, the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery, the Surgical Infection Society-Europe, The World Surgical Infection Society, and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma have jointly completed an international multi-society document to promote global standards of care in SSTIs guiding clinicians by describing reasonable approaches to the management of SSTIs.An extensive non-systematic review was conducted using the PubMed and MEDLINE databases, limited to the English language. The resulting evidence was shared by an international task force with different clinical backgrounds.
Fulltext Raising concerns about the Sepsis-3 definitions

Sartelli M, Kluger Y, Ansaloni L, Hardcastle TC, Rello J, Watkins RR, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2018;13:6.
PMID: 29416555 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-018-0165-6

The Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery appreciates the great effort of the task force who derived and validated the Sepsis-3 definitions and considers the new definitions an important step forward in the evolution of our understanding of sepsis. Nevertheless, more than a year after their publication, we have a few concerns regarding the use of the Sepsis-3 definitions.
Fulltext Global validation of the WSES Sepsis Severity Score for patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections: a prospective multicentre study (WISS Study)

Sartelli M, Abu-Zidan FM, Catena F, Griffiths EA, Di Saverio S, Coimbra R, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2015;10:61.
PMID: 26677396 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-015-0055-0

BACKGROUND: To validate a new practical Sepsis Severity Score for patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAIs) including the clinical conditions at the admission (severe sepsis/septic shock), the origin of the cIAIs, the delay in source control, the setting of acquisition and any risk factors such as age and immunosuppression.
METHODS: The WISS study (WSES cIAIs Score Study) is a multicenter observational study underwent in 132 medical institutions worldwide during a four-month study period (October 2014-February 2015). Four thousand five hundred thirty-three patients with a mean age of 51.2 years (range 18-99) were enrolled in the WISS study.
RESULTS: Univariate analysis has shown that all factors that were previously included in the WSES Sepsis Severity Score were highly statistically significant between those who died and those who survived (p
Prospective Observational Study on acute Appendicitis Worldwide (POSAW)

Sartelli M, Baiocchi GL, Di Saverio S, Ferrara F, Labricciosa FM, Ansaloni L, et al.

World J Emerg Surg, 2018;13:19.
PMID: 29686725 DOI: 10.1186/s13017-018-0179-0

Background: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical disease, and appendectomy is the treatment of choice in the majority of cases. A correct diagnosis is key for decreasing the negative appendectomy rate. The management can become difficult in case of complicated appendicitis. The aim of this study is to describe the worldwide clinical and diagnostic work-up and management of AA in surgical departments.
Methods: This prospective multicenter observational study was performed in 116 worldwide surgical departments from 44 countries over a 6-month period (April 1, 2016-September 30, 2016). All consecutive patients admitted to surgical departments with a clinical diagnosis of AA were included in the study.
Results: A total of 4282 patients were enrolled in the POSAW study, 1928 (45%) women and 2354 (55%) men, with a median age of 29 years. Nine hundred and seven (21.2%) patients underwent an abdominal CT scan, 1856 (43.3%) patients an US, and 285 (6.7%) patients both CT scan and US. A total of 4097 (95.7%) patients underwent surgery; 1809 (42.2%) underwent open appendectomy and 2215 (51.7%) had laparoscopic appendectomy. One hundred eighty-five (4.3%) patients were managed conservatively. Major complications occurred in 199 patients (4.6%). The overall mortality rate was 0.28%.
Conclusions: The results of the present study confirm the clinical value of imaging techniques and prognostic scores. Appendectomy remains the most effective treatment of acute appendicitis. Mortality rate is low.

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