Anesthesia and infection

Gau-Jun Tang

The conduct of anesthesia which many a time requires some form of invasive intervention, although to a lesser extent in comparison with surgery, would break the intactness of protection of the host. The anesthetic agent in use if contaminated will introduce microorganisminto thebody either through respiratory tract, intra-spinal puncture or intravenous line. This article reviewed the post-operative infections that related to anesthesia. The review also echoed to the article reported in our journal about post-operative septic shock due to contaminated propofol. The magnitude of anesthesia-related infection has been underestimated. Infections in surgical patients are frequently related to the surgeon, surgical procedure, or postoperative care. Anesthesia related outbreaks often remained unidentified unless an unusual organism is isolated, the infection occurs in clean, uncomplicated surgical procedures, the infection clusters in a group of patients, or the signs of infection occur during or immediately after surgery. We stressed that increased and continuous efforts should be made to remind the anesthesia personnel about the need of aseptic techniques and basic practice of infection control.

Key words: Anesthesia. Infection control.

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