A research project at Greenwich Hospital, partnering with the ONS Foundation for Clinical Research and Education received recognition at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine annual meeting, according to a Greenwich Post report.
The projection focused on understanding and preventing surgical site infections during arthroscopic shoulder surgery to repair rotator cuff tears. Bacterium is common in post-surgical shoulder infections and the team wanted to investigate this trend further, potentially findings ways to prevent the situation.
Here are a few quick findings and conclusions from the study:
1. Proprionibacter Acnes was the bacteria found causing the infections. It resists skin sterilization procedures before surgery, which is an issue for healthcare providers.
2. The bacterium was more frequently present at the surgical site in male patients because men have more body hair.
3. The research team recommended evaluating current pre-surgical skin preparation procedures to prevent instruments and prosthetic devices from coming into contact with the patient's skin during the procedure.
4. These infections can cause difficult complications for the patient to fully recover.
5. Now that the researchers have identified the issue, the team is "developing ways to attack it at the patient's point of vulnerability," said one of the researchers, Paul Sethi, MD.