Infectious risk and antibiotic therapy in surgical patients: medicolegal aspects

Numerous recommendations exist to prevent surgical site infections, including antibiotic prophylaxis. Different methods are used to assess compliance with the prescription of antibiotics in surgery. Criteria for assessing good practices in this area are used by during the accreditation process. When a postoperative infection occurs, practitioners have support for treatment (antibiotic therapy experts, interregional centers for the management of serious osteoarticular infections). Forensic medicine finds its place when a practitioner or an health care facility is called into question by a patient who considers himself the victim of damage. Medical expertise is at the heart of the decision-making process in medical liability with specificities for nosocomial infection. The scale of requests and the cost of compensation are the subject of reports from insurance organizations. Three postoperative infection assessment files illustrate this presentation which concludes with messages to the surgical teams.
Keywords: infectious risk in surgical patient, antibiotics, expert assessment
Dr Joseph HAJJAR – Honorary hospital practitioner, past member of the National Commission for Medical Accidents – PAU