Antibiotic prophylaxis in neurosurgery

1984 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 724-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Geraghty ◽  
Micheal Feely
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Prophylaxis ◽  
Randomized Trial ◽  
Infection Rate ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Prophylactic Antibiotics ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Wound Infections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Print

✓ A randomized trial was performed to support the contention that prophylactic antibiotics can reduce the incidence of postoperative neurosurgical wound infections. The regime outlined by Malis was followed. Vancomycin and gentamicin were administered systemically just prior to surgery and streptomycin was added to the irrigating solution. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: control and treated. The infection rate in the control group was 3.5% and in the treated group 0.5%.

Use of antibiotics with external ventriculostomies

1972 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen R. Wyler ◽  
William A. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Infection Rate ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Prophylactic Antibiotics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Print

✓ A review of 102 external ventriculostomies in 70 patients is reported. Forty-four patients received prophylatic antibiotics and 26 did not. The infection rate was significantly lower in the treated group, and the shunts could be left in place longer. Prophylactic antibiotics are advocated for patients in whom an external ventriculostomy is to be left in place for 3 days or more.

Effect of hyperglycemia on brain pH levels in areas of focal incomplete cerebral ischemia in monkeys

1986 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 693-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Richard Marsh ◽  
Robert E. Anderson ◽  
Thoralf M. Sundt
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effect ◽  
Cerebral Ischemia ◽  
Cell Damage ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Squirrel Monkeys ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brain Ph ◽  
Fine Print ◽  
Incomplete Ischemia

✓ The adverse effect of a minimal cerebral blood flow (CBF) in models of global ischemia has been noted by many investigators. One factor believed important in this situation is the level of blood glucose, since a continued supply of this metabolite results in increased tissue lactate, decreased brain pH, and increased cell damage. The authors have extended these observations to a model of focal incomplete ischemia. Brain pH was measured in fasted squirrel monkeys in regions of focal incomplete ischemia after transorbital occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). In both control and hyperglycemic animals, CBF was reduced to less than 30% of baseline. At 3 hours after MCA occlusion, brain pH in the control group was 6.66 ± 0.68 as compared to 6.27 ± 0.26 in the glucose-treated group. This difference was statistically significant by Student's unpaired t-test (p < 0.05). Thus, hyperglycemia results in decreased tissue pH in regions of focal incomplete cerebral ischemia in monkeys.

Results of applying ADCON-L gel after lumbar discectomy: the German ADCON-L study

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Peter Richter ◽  
Erich Kast ◽  
Rainer Tomczak ◽  
Werner Besenfelder ◽  
Wilhelm Gaus
Keyword(s):  
Lumbar Disc ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Large Sample Size ◽  
Therapeutic Success ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Fine Print

Object. Failed-back syndrome is still an unsolved problem. Use of ADCON-L gel, already commercially available, has been proven to reduce postoperative scarring in animal experiments. The authors of two controlled clinical studies have also shown positive results when applying the gel. They did not, however, establish patient-oriented endpoints. The authors report a study of ADCON-L in which they focus on patient-oriented endpoints. Methods. Patients with lumbar disc herniation were randomized to an ADCON-L—treated or control group. Therapeutic success was evaluated using the validated Hannover Questionnaire on Activities of Daily Living (FFbH) 6 months after surgery. The study took place between November 14, 1996, and April 20, 1998, in eight neurosurgical centers in Germany. A total of 398 patients was recruited; 41 patients dropped out during follow up. The mean functional FFbH score (100 points = all activities are possible without problem; 0 points = no activity is possible) was 78.5 points in the ADCON-L—treated group compared with 80 points in the control group. Furthermore, in terms of secondary outcome variables, the ADCON-L group did not have an advantage over the control group. Only the mean magnetic resonance imaging score showed a slight advantage of ADCON-L over the control group. Conclusions. The authors found no positive effect of treatment with ADCON-L gel in patients in whom one-level lumbar microdiscectomy was performed. Because of its rather large sample size and its homogeneity, the study had sufficient power to detect even small differences between the two groups.

Low-dose aspirin prophylaxis and risk of intracranial hemorrhage in patients older than 60 years of age with mild or moderate head injury: a prospective study

2003 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Spektor ◽  
Samuel Agus ◽  
Vladimir Merkin ◽  
Shlomo Constantini
Keyword(s):  
Head Injury ◽  
Intracranial Hemorrhage ◽  
Ct Scanning ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage ◽  
Gcs Score ◽  
Fine Print

Object. The goal of this paper was to investigate a possible relationship between the consumption of low-dose aspirin (LDA) and traumatic intracranial hemorrhage in an attempt to determine whether older patients receiving prophylactic LDA require special treatment following an incidence of mild-to-moderate head trauma. Methods. Two hundred thirty-one patients older than 60 years of age, who arrived at the emergency department with a mild or moderate head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] Scores 13–15 and 9–12, respectively), were included in the study. One hundred ten patients were receiving prophylactic LDA (100 mg/day) and these formed the aspirin-treated group. One hundred twenty-one patients were receiving no aspirin, and these formed the control group. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups with respect to age, sex, mechanism of trauma, or GCS score on arrival at the emergency department. Most of the patients sustained the head injury from falls (88.2% of patients in the aspirin-treated group and 85.1% of patients in the control group), and had external signs of head trauma such as bruising or scalp laceration (80.9% of patients in the aspirin-treated group and 86.8% of patients in the control group). All patients underwent similar neurological examinations and computerized tomography (CT) scanning of the head. The CT scans revealed evidence of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage in 27 (24.5%) patients in the aspirin-treated group and in 31 patients (25.6%) in the control group. Surgical intervention was required for five patients in each group (4.5% of patients in the aspirin-treated group and 4.1% of patients in the control group). A surprising number of the patients who arrived with GCS Score 15 were found to have traumatic intracranial hemorrhage, as revealed by CT scanning (11.5% of patients in the aspirin-treated group and 16.5% of patients in the control group). Surgery, however, was not necessary for any of these patients. Conclusions. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency or types of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage between patients who had received aspirin prophylaxis and those who had not. The authors conclude that LDA does not increase surgically relevant parenchymal or meningeal bleeding following moderate and minor head injury in patients older than 60 years of age.

Effect of chemical sympathectomy on cerebral blood flow in rats

1991 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 906-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidenori Kobayashi ◽  
Minoru Hayashi ◽  
Hirokazu Kawano ◽  
Yuji Handa ◽  
Masanori Kabuto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Systemic Blood Pressure ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Left Lateral Ventricle ◽  
6 Hydroxydopamine ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Thirty male Wistar rats, weighing 350 to 400 gm each, received stereotactic injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (300 µg/kg) into the left lateral ventricle. The same amount of saline was injected into a control group of 15 rats. Seven days after this procedure, cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by the hydrogen clearance method. A hypertensive condition at a mean arterial pressure of about 160 mm Hg was maintained for 1 hour by intravenous infusion of phenylephrine. In the 6-hydroxydopamine-treated group, CBF increased significantly after the elevation of systemic blood pressure compared with that in the control group, and cerebral autoregulation was impaired. After a 1-hour study, the specific gravity of the cerebral tissue in the treated group significantly decreased; electron microscopic studies at that time revealed brain edema. It is suggested that depletion of brain noradrenaline levels causes a disturbance in cerebral microvascular tone and renders the cerebral blood vessels more vulnerable to hypertension.

Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis for prevention of postoperative neurosurgical infections

1987 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 701-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald F. Young ◽  
Pablo M. Lawner
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Prophylaxis ◽  
Foreign Bodies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Wound Infections ◽  
Postoperative Infections ◽  
Dramatic Decrease ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perioperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The authors report the results of a randomized, prospective study to assess the effectiveness of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing postoperative infections following clean neurosurgical operations. The study group comprised 846 patients treated between October, 1979, and June, 1984. Antibiotics, including cefazolin and gentamicin, were administered only in the immediate preoperative and intraoperative periods. Sixteen patients, none of whom developed infections, were excluded from final statistical analysis because they had inadvertently been entered into the study while failing to meet entry criteria. Fifteen wound infections (3.64%) developed in the group of 412 patients who did not receive antibiotics, whereas only four infections (0.96%) were identified among the 418 patients who received antibiotics. The difference is statistically significant (p = 0.008) and represents a 74% reduction in infection rate with antibiotics. An analysis of subgroups of surgical procedures revealed a dramatic decrease in craniotomy infections from 6.77% to 0% (p = 0.003). Of the four infections that occurred among the antibiotic-treated patients, three were in cases where foreign bodies had been implanted. No complications of antibiotic usage were identified. The rates of infection in areas of the body other than the surgical wound were no different in the antibiotic-treated and nontreated groups. All wound infections in both antibiotic-treated and nontreated patients involved similar types of Gram-positive organisms, suggesting that antibiotic prophylaxis did not produce infections with resistant or unusual organisms. This study, combined with other recently published analyses, suggests that routine perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis can significantly reduce the incidence of postoperative neurosurgical infections.

Antibiotic prophylaxis of postoperative neurosurgical wound infection

1982 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Haines ◽  
Michael L. Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Antibiotic Prophylaxis ◽  
Wound Infection ◽  
Infection Rate ◽  
Neurosurgical Procedures ◽  
Postoperative Wound Infection ◽  
Controlled Clinical Trials ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Postoperative Wound ◽  
Fine Print

✓ In an effort to reduce the incidence of postoperative wound infection, the recently proposed regimen of intravenous vancomycin and tobramycin and streptomycin irrigating solution was used in 878 neurosurgical operations. There were eight infections, for an infection rate of 0.9%. This infection rate was compared to the rate in the previously reported series using a sequential statistical analysis. The infection rate was found to be signficantly greater than that previously reported. Controlled clinical trials will be required before the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis in clean neurosurgical procedures can be considered proven.

Effect of α-adrenergic blockade on the cerebrovascular response to increased intracranial pressure after hemorrhage

1998 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 454-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingunn R. Rise ◽  
Ole J. Kirkeby
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Intracranial Pressure ◽  
Blood Loss ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Adrenergic Blockade ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cerebrovascular Resistance ◽  
Fine Print

Object. In this study the authors tested the hypothesis that hemorrhagic hypotension and high intracranial pressure induce an increase in cerebrovascular resistance that is caused by sympathetic compensatory mechanisms and can be modified by α-adrenergic blockade. Methods. Continuous measurements of cerebral blood flow were obtained using laser Doppler microprobes placed in the cerebral cortex in anesthetized pigs during induced hemorrhagic hypotension and high cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Eight pigs received 2 mg/kg phentolamine in 10 ml saline, and 13 pigs served as control animals. During high intracranial pressure occurring after blood loss, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) (p < 0.01) and cerebral blood flow (p < 0.01) decreased in both groups. Cerebrovascular resistance increased (p < 0.05) in the control group and decreased < 0.005) in the phentolamine-treated group. The cerebrovascular resistance was significantly lower in the phentolamine-treated group (p < 0.05) than in the control group. Cerebrovascular resistance increased at lower CPPs in the control group (linear correlation, r = 0.39, p < 0.01) and decreased with decreasing CPP in the phentolamine-treated group (linear correlation, r = 0.76, p < 0.001). Conclusions. This study shows that the deleterious effects on cerebral hemodynamics induced by blood loss in combination with high intracranial pressure are inhibited by α-adrenergic blockade. This suggests that these responses are caused by α-adrenergically mediated cerebral vasoconstriction.

A new sequential pneumatic device for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis

1981 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 652-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avigdor Zelikovski ◽  
Gidon Zucker ◽  
Avinoam Eliashiv ◽  
Raphael Reiss ◽  
Mordechai Shalit
Keyword(s):  
Deep Vein Thrombosis ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vein Thrombosis ◽  
Pneumatic Device ◽  
Neurosurgical Patients ◽  
Deep Vein ◽  
Preventive Methods ◽  
Fine Print

✓ A new sequential pneumatic instrument for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the Lympha Press, was investigated in neurosurgical patients. In the control group, 50% of patients developed DVT and in the treated group only 4.3% were affected. These results demonstrate the highly beneficial effect of this method of preventing DVT during and after surgery, especially when the use of other preventive methods is precluded.

Effect of increasing the plasma oxygen diffusivity on experimental cryogenic edema

1976 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 535-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
James V. Gainer ◽  
G. Robert Nugent
Keyword(s):  
Endothelial Cell ◽  
Vasogenic Edema ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Brain Lesions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Capillary Endothelial Cell ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Comparable Control ◽  
Diffusion Speed ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Mongrel cats with experimental cryogenic brain lesions were treated with the carotenoid compound crocetin. It has been shown that crocetin increases the diffusion speed of oxygen through plasma, and should provide a net increase in available oxygen to the capillary endothelial cell. The treated group of animals showed a significant reduction in edema as compared to a comparable control group. It is suggested that oxygen availability is an important factor in vasogenic edema.

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