Clostridium difficile infection after orthopedic surgery: Incidence, associated factors, and impact on outcome

Delving into Agri-Food Waste Composition for Antibacterial Phytochemicals

The overuse of antibiotics in the healthcare, veterinary, and agricultural industries has led to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), resulting in significant economic losses worldwide and a growing healthcare problem that urgently needs to be solved. Plants produce a variety of secondary metabolites, making them an area of interest in the search for new phytochemicals to cope with AMR. A great part of agri-food waste is of plant origin, constituting a promising source of valuable compounds with different bioactivities, including those against antimicrobial resistance. Many types of phytochemicals, such as carotenoids, tocopherols, glucosinolates, and phenolic compounds, are widely present in plant by-products, such as citrus peels, tomato waste, and wine pomace. Unveiling these and other bioactive compounds is therefore very relevant and could be an important and sustainable form of agri-food waste valorisation, adding profit for local economies and mitigating the negative impact of these wastes' decomposition on the environment. This review will focus on the potential of agri-food waste from a plant origin as a source of phytochemicals with antibacterial activity for global health benefits against AMR.

A Meta-Analysis on the Impact of Prenatal and Early Childhood Antimicrobial Use on Autism Spectrum Disorders

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of prenatal and early childhood antimicrobial use on autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

DATA SOURCES

We searched PubMed and Embase databases for relevant studies from inception to August 2022.

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION

Peer-reviewed, observational studies were all acceptable. Raw data were extracted into a predefined worksheet and quality analysis was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Nineteen studies were identified in the meta-analysis. Prenatal antimicrobial exposure was not associated with ASD (P = 0.06 > 0.05), whereas early childhood antimicrobial exposure was associated with an increased odds ratio of ASD (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = [1.08-1.27], P value < 0.001). The sibling-matched analysis, with a very limited sample size, suggested that neither prenatal (P = 0.47 > 0.05) nor early childhood (P = 0.13 > 0.05) antimicrobial exposure was associated with ASD. Medical professionals may need to take the possible association into consideration when prescribing an antimicrobial in children.

CONCLUSIONS

Early childhood antimicrobial exposure could increase the incidence of ASD. In future studies, it would be necessary to control for confounding factors, such as genetic factors, parenteral age at birth, or low birthweight, to further validate the association.

Plan-Do-Check-Action Circulation Combined with Accelerated Rehabilitation Nursing under Computed Tomography in Prevention and Control of Hospital Infection in Elderly Patients Undergoing Elective Orthopedic Surgery

To explore the adoption of plan-do-check-action (PDCA) circulation combined with accelerated rehabilitation nursing based on gemstone spectral imaging computed tomography (GSICT) in the prevention and control of hospital infection in the elderly patients undergoing the elective orthopedic surgery, 80 elderly patients who underwent the elective orthopedic surgery in the hospital were selected. Then, according to the randomized controlled principle, these 80 patients were divided into control group (40 cases) with conventional nursing and observation group (40 cases) with accelerated rehabilitation surgical nursing combined with PDCA circulation. All the patients underwent the GSICT examination without any contraindicators. Compared with the conventional CT scan, metal artifacts in GSICT were considerably reduced. In the images processed by GSI and metal artifacts reduction system (MARS), metal artifacts were basically eliminated and the positions, forms, and edges of metal artifacts in the human body were clearly presented. Hospital infection occurred in 1 (2.5%) patient in the observation group and 5 (12.5%) patients in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In terms of temperature increase, patients in control group (37.5%) had a remarkably higher value than that of observation group (7.5%). The increase rate of white blood cell (WBC) count in control group (12.5%) was obviously higher than that in observation group (2.5%). Besides, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). After PDCA circulation combined with accelerated rehabilitation nursing mode was applied, the hospitalization time of observation group (5.3 ± 2.4 days) was markedly lower than that of control group (9.7 ± 3.8 days). Moreover, the total hospitalization cost of observation group (791.44 yuan) was notably lower than that of control group (4068.96 yuan), with significant differences (P < 0.05). Nursing satisfaction in observation group (92.5%) was higher than that in control group (77.5%), and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In short, GSICT could effectively reduce beam hardening artifacts and metal implant artifacts and improve image quality. Furthermore, accelerated rehabilitation nursing combined with PDCA circulation could effectively reduce the incidence of hospital infection and improve nursing satisfaction.