Patients enter the hospital expecting to get well. For a small percentage of patients, however, hospitalization leads to the development of a new infection. Hospital-acquired infections, also known as nosocomial infections, are the leading complication of hospitalization, reports the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Approximately 1.7 million nosocomial infections occur annually in the United States, resulting in nearly 100,000 deaths. Hospital infection control personnel work to reduce the occurrence of nosocomial infections and to limit the adverse consequences of these infections on patients.
Pyelonephritis
The urinary tract is the most common site of nosocomial infections, accounting for approximately 32 percent of health care-associated infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nosocomial urinary tract infections most commonly occur due to placement of a catheter, or tube, in the urinary bladder. The catheter provides a route for bacteria to enter the bladder.
Prompt antibiotic treatment easily cures most bladder infections. In some patients, however, the bacteria migrate from the bladder to infect the kidney, a condition known as pyelonephritis. Development of pyelonephritis in a patient already debilitated by another illness may lead to acute kidney failure or a potentially life-threatening bloodstream infection known as urosepsis, reports the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Surgical Wound Abscesses and Breakdown
Infection of surgical wounds is the second most common type of nosocomial infection, according to the CDC. The seriousness of a surgical wound varies, depending on the depth of the infection and the bacteria present. Patients may develop deep abscesses at the site of a surgical wound infection, potentially necessitating a return to the operating room for drainage of the abscess and removal of damaged tissue.
Infection in a surgical wound can also cause tissue breakdown and wound dehiscence--splitting open of the surgical site. Wound dehiscence may prove potentially life threatening and requires an urgent return to the operating room to clean the infection site, remove damaged tissue and reclose the surgical wound.
Sepsis
Hospitalized patients who acquire a nosocomial infection may develop sepsis, a condition in which bacterial invasion of the bloodstream causes an overwhelming, deleterious immune system response. With sepsis, the immune system releases large quantities of chemicals into the bloodstream that cause massive fluid leakage into the body tissues and a profound drop in blood pressure. Persistent low blood pressure, or shock, compromises delivery of blood to the body organs, potentially leading to organ failure. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences reports that 28 to 50 percent of people who develop severe sepsis die from the condition.
References
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: National Healthcare Quality Report, 2009--Patient Safety
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Estimates of Healthcare-Associated Infections
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Pyelonephritis (Kidney Infection) in Adults
- New York University Langone Medical Center: Wound Dehiscence
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences: Sepsis Fact Sheet
