Prevention of surgical site infections in spine surgery: an international survey of clinical practices among expert spine surgeons

Study Design: Questionnaire-based survey.Objectives: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common complication in spine surgery but universal guidelines for SSI prevention are lacking. The objectives of this study are to depict a global status quo on implemented prevention strategies in spine surgery, common themes of practice and determine key areas for future research.Methods: An 80-item survey was distributed among spine surgeons worldwide via email. The questionnaire was designed and approved by an International Consensus Group on spine SSI. Consensus was defined as more than 60% of participants agreeing to a specific prevention strategy.Results: Four hundred seventy-two surgeons participated in the survey. Screening for Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is not common, whereas preoperative decolonization is performed in almost half of all hospitals. Body mass index (BMI) was not important for surgery planning. In contrast, elevated HbAIc level and hypoalbuminemia were often considered as reasons to postpone surgery. Cefazoline is the common drug for antimicrobial prophylaxis. Alcohol-based chlorhexidine is mainly used for skin disinfection. Double-gloving, wound irrigation, and tissue-conserving surgical techniques are routine in the operating room (OR). Local antibiotic administration is not common. Wound closure techniques and postoperative wound dressing routines vary greatly between the participating institutions.Conclusions: With this study we provide an international overview on the heterogeneity of SSI prevention strategies in spine surgery. We demonstrated a large heterogeneity for pre-, peri- and postoperative measures to prevent SSI. Our data illustrated the need for developing universal guidelines and for testing areas of controversy in prospective clinical trails.Scientific Assessment and Innovation in Neurosurgical Treatment Strategie

Plateau facility in support to ASTRID and the sfr program: an overview of the first mock-up of the ASTRID upper plenum, MICAS

International audienceThe CEA and several industrial partners are involved in the development of a 4th generation reactor cooled by sodium, ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration). It is a 600MWe pool type reactor integrating cutting edge technologies.Developments are in progress especially for the vessel and the apparatus. Experiments are needed for both validation of numerical codes and specific studies. In this way, a thermal-hydraulic loop, the PLATEAU facility, has been developed and built at the CEA Cadarache. Different mock-ups can be connected to this loop to study the different issues at various reactor conditions. Currently, 4 mock-ups are identified the internal vessel, the entire pool reactor, the link between the external and the internal vessel, a part of the internal vessel at a higher scale to study specific issues.The MICAS mock-up at 1/6 scale is dedicated to study the flow regime of the internal vessel (hot plenum), both for code validation and also engineering design development.This mock-up has been built in transparent polymer to carry out some optical measurements as laser velocimetry. Numerical studies have been engaged to determine the general flow pattern in a way to identify the area of interest for detailed phenomenological studies