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Sensitivity Of Detection Of Radiofrequency Surgical Sponges: A Prospective, Cross-Over Study, Victoria Steelman
Sensitivity Of Detection Of Radiofrequency Surgical Sponges: A Prospective, Cross-Over Study, Victoria Steelman
Victoria J. Steelman
BACKGROUND: A retained surgical sponge is a serious medical error that results in negative patient outcomes. Radiofrequency (RF) technology has recently been introduced to evaluate for the presence of a retained sponge. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the detection of surgical sponges embedded with an RF chip through the torsos of subjects of varying body habitus, including the morbidly obese. METHODS: A prospective, crossover, and observer blinded study design was used. Subjects served as their own controls. With the subject supine, 4 surgical sponges were sequentially placed behind the subject's torso in …
Clinical Significance Of Positive Cranial Bone Flap Cultures And Associated Risk Of Surgical Site Infection After Craniotomies Or Craniectomies, H. Chiang, Victoria Steelman, J. Pottinger, A. Schlueter, D. Diekema, J. Greenlee, M. Howard, L. Herwaldt
Clinical Significance Of Positive Cranial Bone Flap Cultures And Associated Risk Of Surgical Site Infection After Craniotomies Or Craniectomies, H. Chiang, Victoria Steelman, J. Pottinger, A. Schlueter, D. Diekema, J. Greenlee, M. Howard, L. Herwaldt
Victoria J. Steelman
OBJECT: The risk of surgical site infection (SSI) after craniotomies or craniectomies in patients in whom contaminated bone flaps have been reimplanted has not been determined. The objectives of this study were to identify the prevalence of bone flaps with positive cultures--especially those contaminated with Propionibacterium acnes--to assess the risk of SSI after reimplanting (either during the initial operation or subsequently) bone flaps with positive cultures, and to identify risk factors for SSI following the initial craniotomies or craniectomies. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective review of cases in which patients underwent craniotomy/craniectomy procedures between January and October 2007 in …
Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease: Recommendations For Infection Control, Victoria Steelman
Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease: Recommendations For Infection Control, Victoria Steelman
Victoria J. Steelman
Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, an infectious, progressive, degenerative neurologic disorder, has a presumably long incubation period but a rapid, fatal course. Brain tissue at autopsy resembles that seen in spongioform encephalopathies of other species. Creutzfeld-Jakob disease is transmitted by a proteinaceous infectious agent, or "prion." Epidemiologic patterns remain uncertain; various studies have reported conflicting risk factors in different populations, and genetic susceptibility may be involved. Although natural transmission routes are still unclear, both iatrogenic and nosocomial transmissions have been identified. Transmission has occurred through contaminated electrodes, contaminated biologic products from cadaveric brains, and infected donor tissues, including dura mater and corneas. Because …