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Postoperative Intra-abdominal Infection

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Surgical Critical Care Therapy

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Abstract

Postoperative intra-abdominal infections are common; therefore early recognition and treatment are needed to improve patient outcomes. This chapter provides a discussion of the evaluation of patients with suspected postoperative abdominal infections. A review of common etiologies, diagnoses, and therapeutic approaches is provided. The fundamental principles of management of intra-abdominal infections are predicated on early clinical recognition and diagnosis followed by goal-directed resuscitation, broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy, and early source control. There is also a growing recognition and appreciation of a patient’s microbiome where humans are not living in isolation but in reality a complex commensal organism in conjunction with trillions of microbiological organisms.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Surgery and Critical Care Medicine, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Paul B. McBeth

  2. Regional Trauma Services, Departments of Surgery, Critical Care Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Andrew W. Kirkpatrick

Authors
  1. Paul B. McBeth
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  2. Andrew W. Kirkpatrick
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brigham and Womens’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Ali Salim

  2. Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Carlos Brown

  3. Division of Trauma Surgery, Rm C5L100, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Kenji Inaba

  4. Trauma and Emergency Surgery Service, Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

    Matthew J. Martin

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McBeth, P.B., Kirkpatrick, A.W. (2018). Postoperative Intra-abdominal Infection. In: Salim, A., Brown, C., Inaba, K., Martin, M. (eds) Surgical Critical Care Therapy . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71712-8_42

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71712-8_42

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71711-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71712-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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