Skin and Soft Tissue Infections Flashcards
What are the most common infectious agents associated with skin and soft tissue infections?
1 - Staph Aureus
2 - Strep Pyogenes
What are the major risk factors for developing skin and soft tissue infections?
1 - Diabetes
2 - Immunosuppression
3 - Renal failure
4 - Predisposing skin conditions, e.g. eczema, atopic dermatitis
5 - Obesity
How are the most common and most serious skin infections treated?
1 - Topical antibiotics
2 - Oral antibiotics
3 - IV antibiotics
4 - Drainage
5 - IV fluids
What are the most important toxin-related syndromes affecting skin and soft tissues?
1 - Staphylococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome
2 - Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (much higher mortality than staph TSS)
3 - Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome
4 - Panton-Valentine Leucocidin Toxin
Why is it important to have an early diagnosis of toxin-related syndromes affecting the skin?
- Toxin-mediated syndromes result in a massive release of cytokines
- Release of cytokines can result in endothelial leakage, haemodynamic shock, multi-organ failure and ultimately death if left untreated
What are the most important causes of cannulae-associated infections?
1 - Continous infusion > 24hrs
2 - Cannula in situ > 72 hours
3 - Cannula in lower limb
4 - Patients with neurological/neurosurgical problems
What are the different classifications of surgical site infections?
Class I - Clean wound
Class II - Clean-contaminated wound
Class III - Contaminated wound
Class IV - Infected wound
What are the most common causes of surgical wound infections?
1 - MRSA
2 - MSSA
3 - E.Coli
What factors can help reduce the chances of surgical site infections?
1 - No shaving of site the night before operation
2 - Proper preoperative skin preparation
3 - Proper antimicrobial prophylaxis
4 - Proper theatre ventilation
