Impact of a quality improvement intervention on the incidence of surgical site infection in patients undergoing colorectal surgery: Pre-test-post-test design.

Aims And Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the impact of a complex quality improvement intervention on the incidence of SSI in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery.

Background: Surgical site infections are a major postoperative complication for patients undergoing colorectal surgery. Prevention of SSIs necessitates a complex intervention requiring many elements to be in place to ensure the successful implementation of prevention measures.

Empirical treatment of urinary tract infections: how rational are our guidelines?

Objectives: This study considers susceptibility test results obtained over a 6 month period for Enterobacteriaceae that caused urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the Cork region of Ireland and uses these results to examine the suitability of Irish empirical treatment guidelines.

Patients And Methods: UTI-causing Enterobacteriaceae isolates were analysed using EUCAST guidelines to determine resistance to a set of commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents, i.e.

Strain-specific inhibition of Helicobacter pylori by Lactobacillus salivarius and other lactobacilli.

Objectives: To investigate the anti-Helicobacter pylori activity of 28 strains of Lactobacillus salivarius and 12 other lactobacilli, isolated from different sites and from different geographical regions.

Methods: An in vitro agar plate diffusion assay was employed to assess the Lactobacillus anti-H. pylori activity.

Comparison of three stool antigen assays with the 13C- urea breath test for the primary diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection and monitoring treatment outcome.

Background: The urea breath test (UBT) is the gold-standard non-invasive test for the detection of Helicobacter pylori infection, however, the lack of availability of the UBT due to the high cost of the test, and in particular the need for expensive analytical instrumentation, limits the usefulness of this method. Stool antigen assays may offer an alternative non-invasive method for the diagnosis of infection.

Objective: To compare the accuracy of three stool antigen assays (HpSA, IDEIA HpStAR, and ImmunoCard STAT) against the UBT for the primary diagnosis of H.