Surgical patients are at risk for obtaining hospital-acquired infection
because their first line of defense, the skin, is compromised.
Monitoring body temperature, preparing skin preoperatively,
and using appropriate antibiotic dosage, including timing of
antibiotics, are all methods of preventing surgical site infections
(SSIs). These interventions are part of the Joint Commission’s surgical
care improvement project1 and part of their national patient
safety goals.2
Recently, in the infection control community, the role of contaminated
environmental surfaces, the role of contaminated
equipment, the role of contaminated hands of health care workers,
and their role in transmission of pathogens have been examined
because of serious outbreaks in hospital settings and in operating