May the drain be a way in for microbes in surgical infections?

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection (SSI) is among the most frequent hospital-acquired infections occurring in surgical patients and leads to increased morbidity, mortality, and costs. We aimed to identify risk factors for SSI in patients undergoing surgical procedures, with a particular attention to the use of drains. METHODS: This study includes all patients undergoing abdominal surgical procedures in 2 surgical wards in a teaching hospital in central Italy. Collected data included patient's demographic and clinical characteristics, procedure characteristics, administration of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, and microorganism isolated. The outcome of interest was SSI. FINDINGS: A total of 872 abdominal surgery procedures were surveyed during the study period. Drains were placed in 37.0% of cases. SSI rate was 6.4% globally and 13.6% among the patients with drains, versus 2.4% in those without a drain (P < .001). In 72.1% of cases antibiotic prophylaxis was administered. The logistic regression analysis (P < .001) shown insertion of a drain (odds ratio [OR], 5.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.63-10.08), prolonged surgery (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.09-3.59), and American Society of Anesthesiologists score equal to 3 (OR, 6.13; 95% CI, 2.33-16.11) as independent risk factors for SSI, whereas antibiotic prophylaxis was protective (OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.29-0.99). CONCLUSION: This study revealed surgical drains as a risk factor for SSI, pointing out the need of a clearer understanding of drain role in the dynamics of SSI occurrence, with the purpose of decreasing infection risk through targeted preventive interventions.

The Vegetarian Habit in Italy: Prevalence and Characteristics of Consumers.

Many individuals around the world follow vegetarian diet. The aim of this study was to examine the variables associated to a vegetarian diet. Data were drawn from the national cross-sectional survey "Health and use of health care in Italy". Vegetarian habit was prevalent in 0.79% of sample, mainly females. Multivariate model has confirmed the association between vegetarianism and females, age, level of education, marital status separated/divorced/single, diabetes, bad state of perceived health. Little to no research has been conducted in this area until now. As for all types of diet, the vegetarian one should be controlled.

Utilization patterns of cervical cancer screening in Italy.

The aim of this study is to identify the use of cervical cancer screening and sociodemographic determinants associated with proper screening, overscreening, and underscreening in the Italian target population. Cross-sectional data from the national last available survey 'Health and use of health care in Italy,' conducted between December 2004 and September 2005, were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the risk factors associated independently with Pap test utilization. Our final sample included 36,161 women aged 25-64 years. Among women who reported having a Pap smear at least once, 20,920 (81.6%) repeated the Pap smear after the first one: 15,454 (74.3%) more than once every 3 years ('OVER' screening) and 2599 (12.4%) less than once every 3 years ('UNDER' screening). Among the independent risk factors associated with 'OVER' screening were higher social class [odds ratio (OR)=1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-1.39], being a former smoker (OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.05-1.28), and having had two or more pregnancies in the last 5 years (OR=1.43, 95% CI 1.20-1.70), whereas 'UNDER' screening was associated with the age group of 55-64 years (OR=2.11, 95% CI 1.76-2.53) and being divorced (OR=1.32, 95% CI 1.02-1.71). Improving Pap test compliance according to the proper timing is important for future reduction in cervical cancer mortality.