Does perioperative hyperoxia alter the incidence of surgical site infection?
David R. Urbach Departments of Surgery and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Pryor KO, Fahey TJ III, Lien CA, Goldstein PA. Surgical site infection and the routine use of perioperative hyperoxia in a general surgical population. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2004;291:79-87. Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common and serious complication following surgical procedures. A randomized trial published in 20001 showed that supplemental oxygen in the perioperative period reduced the risk of SSI, presumably by promoting the bactericidal effect of derived reactive oxygen species in the surgical wound. Design: In this single-centre randomized controlled trial, patients aged 18 years or more scheduled to undergo laparotomy for a variety of reasons were randomly assigned to receive a fractional inspired concentration of oxygen (FIO2) of either 0.80 or 0.35 during the operation and for 2 hours thereafter. Patients were excluded if the
