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CHRISTUS St. Patrick Quality Report

Surgical Care Improvement Project

CHRISTUS Health participates in the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP). This is a national quality partnership of organizations committed to improving the safety of surgical care by reducing the amount of complications after surgery. One of the ways this is done is through the use of antibiotics, which are medicines that prevent and treat infections.

Research shows that surgery patients who get antibiotics within an hour before their operation are less likely to get wound infections. Getting an antibiotic earlier, or after surgery begins, is not as effective. Further research shows that the likelihood of developing an infection after surgery can be reduced by giving patients preventative antibiotics. However, taking these antibiotics for more than 24 hours after routine surgery is usually not necessary and can increase the risk of side effects such as stomach aches, serious types of diarrhea and antibiotic resistance (when antibiotics are used too much, they will not work anymore). Talk to your doctor if you have questions about how long you should take antibiotics after surgery.

The SCIP quality indicators measure some of the things that can be done to make your surgery safer. Click here for more information about how to prevent wound infections after surgery.