Prevention of Infections Associated with Vascular Catheters

The insertion of implanted venous access systems for children undergoing prolonged courses of chemotherapy has become a common procedure in pediatric surgical oncology. While not permanently implanted, the devices are expected to remain functional until cure of the primary disease is assured. Despite careful patient selection and standardised insertion and access techniques, some devices fail. The most commonly encountered problems are colonisation of the device with bacteria and catheter occlusion. Both of these difficulties relate to the development of a biofilm within the port and catheter. The morphology and evolution of biofilms in indwelling vascular catheters is the subject of ongoing investigation. To date, however, such investigations have been confined to the examination of fragments of biofilm scraped or sonicated from sections of catheter. This report describes a novel method for the extraction of intact biofilms from indwelling catheters.15 children with Wilm’s tumour and who had received venous implants were studied. Catheters were removed because of infection (n=6) or electively at the end of chemotherapy.

Download Full-text

Infectious safety of nursing staff in departments (offices) functional diagnostics in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Medical alphabet ◽

10.33667/2078-5631-2020-25-30-33 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 30-33

Author(s):

E. V. Panina ◽

M. V. Pugachev ◽

A. G. Shchesiu

Keyword(s):

Medical Care ◽

Nursing Staff ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Medical Personnel ◽

Medical Waste ◽

Daily Activities ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Functional Diagnostics ◽

Prevention Of Infections ◽

Epidemiological Situation

The article shows that in the daily activities of nursing staff of functional diagnostics departments (offices), it is necessary to strictly observe the requirements and rules for the prevention of infections associated with medical care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The types of personal protective equipment (PPE) of medical personnel (MP), as well as current effective methods of disinfection, rules for collecting medical waste in a complex epidemiological situation are presented.

Download Full-text

Hygiene treatment of the hands of health workers is the most important condition for the prevention of infections related to medical care (assessment of the implementation of the pilot project)

Disinfection affairs ◽

10.35411/2076-457x-2020-1-12-19 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 12-19

Author(s):

Nikolay Vladimirovich Shestopalov ◽

◽

Izabella Aleksandrovna Khrapunova ◽

Tatyana Nikolaevna Shestopalova ◽

Vasiliy Gennadevich Akimkin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Care ◽

Health Workers ◽

Pilot Project ◽

Important Condition ◽

Care Assessment ◽

Prevention Of Infections

Download Full-text

Dermatillomania: Strategies for Developing Protective Biomaterials/Cloth

Pharmaceutics ◽

10.3390/pharmaceutics13030341 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 341

Author(s):

Priusha Ravipati ◽

Bice Conti ◽

Enrica Chiesa ◽

Karine Andrieux

Keyword(s):

Alternative Treatment ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Current Treatment ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Neuropsychiatric Disorder ◽

Physical Barrier ◽

Physical Treatment ◽

Pubmed Database ◽

Prevention Of Infections

Dermatillomania or skin picking disorder (SPD) is a chronic, recurrent, and treatment resistant neuropsychiatric disorder with an underestimated prevalence that has a concerning negative impact on an individual’s health and quality of life. The current treatment strategies focus on behavioral and pharmacological therapies that are not very effective. Thus, the primary objective of this review is to provide an introduction to SPD and discuss its current treatment strategies as well as to propose biomaterial-based physical barrier strategies as a supporting or alternative treatment. To this end, searches were conducted within the PubMed database and Google Scholar, and the results obtained were organized and presented as per the following categories: prevalence, etiology, consequences, diagnostic criteria, and treatment strategies. Furthermore, special attention was provided to alternative treatment strategies and biomaterial-based physical treatment strategies. A total of six products with the potential to be applied as physical barrier strategies in supporting SPD treatment were shortlisted and discussed. The results indicated that SPD is a complex, underestimated, and underemphasized neuropsychiatric disorder that needs heightened attention, especially with regard to its treatment and care. Moreover, the high synergistic potential of biomaterials and nanosystems in this area remains to be explored. Certain strategies that are already being utilized for wound healing can also be further exploited, particularly as far as the prevention of infections is concerned.

Download Full-text

#69: Improving Communication About the Care and Prevention of Infections in a Pediatric Oncology Unit by Using Patient Daily Goals in Multidisciplinary Rounds

Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society ◽

10.1093/jpids/piaa170.069 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S22-S22

Author(s):

Escobedo-Melendez Griselda ◽

Martinez-Albarran Manuel ◽

Magaña-Saldivar Isadora ◽

Jimenez Norma ◽

Gomez-Huerta Elizabeth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Length Of Stay ◽

Pediatric Oncology ◽

Multidisciplinary Team ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Multidisciplinary Teams ◽

Use Of Resources ◽

Multidisciplinary Rounds ◽

Prevention Of Infections ◽

Oncology Unit

Abstract Background In children with cancer infections are the most frequent complication, with fatal outcomes if not addressed promptly. Therefore, care and prevention of infections in these patients require multidisciplinary interventions, with effective communication among healthcare providers to reduce the morbidity, length of stay, and the inappropriate use of resources. We used the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) model for improving the communication among healthcare providers by using patient daily goals after the oncology pediatric unit multidisciplinary rounds. Methods A multidisciplinary team was identified in the pediatric oncology unit. The team received weekly coaching on the IHI methodology. The methodology used included the creation of a block diagram to understand the baseline processes and a key driver diagram. Then, after a literature review, a data collection plan and measures were identified. The team identified different ideas for changes and prioritized them using an impact-effort matrix. Finally, several rounds of Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles reached the desired changes that organized the patient daily goals for sharing in the form of a worksheet. This worksheet was shared with nurses and pharmacist staff, a chat group was created, and the routine use of the daily goals for patient management was taught and incorporated into the rest of the care team staff. The percentage of excellent communication among all multidisciplinary teams and outcomes (length of stay, intensive care unit admission, and mortality) were recorded at baseline and endline. We determined the statistical significance of the baseline vs. endline difference by using χ 2 and t-tests. Results A total of 105 patients with suspected infections were included over a 6-month period (June through November 2019). We found a significant increase per month in the percent of agreement in excellent communication in the patient daily goals between infectious diseases specialist faculty and fellows, nurses, pharmacist, and pediatric oncology faculty and fellows (33.3% vs. 91.3%) (P = 0.004). Length of stay decreased monthly after our interventions (baseline: mean 14.7 days [SD 12.4] vs. after intervention: mean 6.7 days [SD 2.7]) (P = 0.014). There were only one ICU admission and no deaths during the implementation period. Conclusions Our approach using patient daily goals improved communication among a multidisciplinary team, leading to decreased length of stay and supporting adequate outcomes.

Download Full-text