PREVENTION OF SURGICAL SITE INFECTIONS IN THE ELDERLY: A REVIEW

Abstract

Cuba is experiencing accelerated aging, with increasing life expectancies. Surgical site infections are common in the elderly. A literature review was carried out with the aim of presenting a Guide for the prevention of surgical site infections in the elderly. The sources of information consulted were: Lilacs, Medline, Pubmed and Google Scholar. Studies published up to February 2021 were considered. A bibliographic search was carried out in English and Spanish, under the topics: elderly; surgery; guide; surgical site; infection and prevention and in Spanish language, elderly; surgery; guide; surgical site infection and prevention. Systematic reviews, original articles and review articles were included. Articles that were older than 5 years were excluded. Finally, the selection of 62 articles was made. With this review, it was found that surgical procedures in older patients are increasingly frequent; there is an urgent need to implement strategies to reduce operative morbidity and mortality. In addition, a guide is proposed that has the necessary tools for the prevention of surgical site infection in the elderly in a standardized, easily accessible and understandable way.

Key words: Elderly – surgery – guide – surgical site infection – prevention