Nosocomial infections in the surgical intensive care unit: an observational retrospective study from a large tertiary hospital in Palestine.

BACKGROUND: Nosocomial infections or hospital-acquired infections are a growing public health threat that increases patient morbidity and mortality. Patients at the highest risk are those in intensive care units. Therefore, our objective was to provide a pattern analysis of nosocomial infections that occurred in an adult surgical intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: This study was a retrospective observational study conducted in a 6-bed surgical intensive care unit (SICU) at An-Najah National University Hospital (NNUH) to detect the incidence of nosocomial infections from January 2020 until December 2021. The study group included 157 patients who received antibiotics during their stay in the SICU. RESULTS: The incidence of nosocomial infections, either suspected or confirmed, in the SICU was 26.9% (95 out of 352 admitted patients). Pneumonia (36.8%) followed by skin and soft tissue infections (35.8%) were the most common causes. The most common causative microorganisms were in the following order: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (26.3%), Acinetobacter baumannii (25.3%), extended-spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL)-Escherichia coli (23.2%) and Klebsiella pneumonia (15.8%). The average hospital stay of patients with nosocomial infections in the SICU was 18.5 days. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of nosocomial infections is progressively increasing despite the current infection control measures, which accounts for an increased mortality rate among critically ill patients. The findings of this study may be beneficial in raising awareness to implement new strategies for the surveillance and prevention of hospital-acquired infections in Palestinian hospitals and health care centers.

Correction to: Case report and management approach in idiopathic pulmonary arteries aneurysm.

The original article [1] contained an error whereby the author, Ahmad Darwazah's name was spelt incorrectly.

Case report and management approach in idiopathic pulmonary arteries aneurysm.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary artery aneurysm is a rare anomaly with only a handful reports in the literature. It is often asymptomatic, while the first presentation could be severe hemoptysis or death. Surgical intervention needs to be planned carefully with a multidisciplinary team approach to secure optimal outcome. We hope to spread our experience with such cases and to encourage other surgeons worldwide to deal surgically with these cases when its indicated. CASE PRESENTATION: A 47 years old man presented to our institution after three episodes of hemoptysis, echo demonstrated good left ventricle (LV) systolic function, normal right ventricle (RV) size and function, Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed aneurysmal dilatation with pending rupture of the pulmonary artery trunk (4.5 cm), the left pulmonary artery (6 cm) and the right pulmonary artery (2.3 cm). The patient successfully underwent replacement of Pulmonary artery trunk, left pulmonary artery and right pulmonary artery by Wovex Prosthetic graft (28 mm). The patient discharged home on the eight postoperative day in good clinical condition . CONCLUSION: With this case report we wish to emphasize the need for a careful multidisciplinary approach given the complex and rare nature of the reported pathology.