Surgical care: Taking the right precautions at the right time
All surgeries have their risks. Blood clots and infections are common problems that can lengthen hospital stays and shorten lives.
On average, an infection of a wound from surgery -- surgical site infection -- can increase a hospital stay by seven days and substantially delay recovery.
Venous thrombo-embolism (VTE or pulmonary embolus) is a blood clot that forms in a vein and travels to the lungs. More than half the patients in hospitals worldwide risk developing a lung blood clot, one of the most common, avoidable causes of death related to surgery.
What to expect as a hospital patient
If you have an operation at an Allina hospital, our doctors and nurses will take precautions that have proven effective in caring for patients having surgery. Their goal is to give the best possible care to each patient, giving the appropriate treatment at the right time.
To help prevent infection in the surgical wound, antibiotic medicine will be given before surgery and stopped the day after the operation. If the area of your body you’ll be operated on should be shaved, clippers will be used as they cause less skin irritation than shaving with a razor.
To help prevent blood clots, certain treatments will be given just before and after surgery.
You may receive heparin or another medicine that can make your blood thinner.
You may wear compression stockings, boots or use a foot pump to improve blood circulation.
How is Allina doing?
Percent of surgical care patients who received the appropriate treatment at the right time
As part of a national quality partnership called the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP), we report on how well our hospitals are doing in preventing surgery complications.
Visit www.qualitycheck.org to see how our hospitals compare to others throughout the nation in surgical care.
First published: 09/16/2008
Last updated: 09/16/2008
Reviewed by: Dennis Salter, director of patient care services, New Ulm Medical Center; John Stoltenberg, MD, vice president of medical affairs, Unity Hospital; Penny Wheeler, MD, chief clinical officer, Allina Hospitals & Clinics
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