Incidence of surgical site infection in colon surgery: comparison with regional, national Spanish, and United States standards.

Background: The high prevalence of surgical site infection (SSI) in colon surgery, and the clinical and economic impacts of such infections, make its monitoring and prevention a priority.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study to estimate the rate of SSI in colon surgery and the degree of compliance with antibiotic prophylaxis and pre-operative preparation protocols. The study population comprised patients who underwent colon surgery at the University Hospital of the Alcorcon Foundation in Alcorcon, Spain, from October 2007 to December 2009.

[Tailgut cysts].

Retrorectal cystic hamartomas (tailgut cysts) are rare congenital lesions thought to arise from remnants of the embryonic postanal gut. They predominantly occur as asymptomatic retrorectal multicystic masses in women. The treatment of choice is by complete surgical excision.