Elaboration and validation of flowchart for the prevention and treatment of intestinal peristomal skin complications

Objective: To build and validate a flowchart for the prevention and treatment of intestinal peristomal skin complications. Method: For the construction of the algorithms, a systematic reviewwas carried out in health sciences databases comprising the last 10 years. The evaluation of the algorithms was carried out by 38 nurses. For the validation of the algorithms, theDelphi technique was used. The statistical analysis used was the content validity index and the Cronbach alpha coefficient. The questionnaire was sent by e-mail and in person after approval by the Ethics and Research Committee. Results: In the first evaluation of the algorithms, there was no agreement among the experts. However, after making the corrections suggested by the evaluators, the algorithms were resent, with a 100% consensus among the evaluators. The questions used to validate the algorithms contributed favourably to the internal consistency and content validation of the instrument, since the respective Cronbach alpha was 0.9062 and the global content validity index (g-CVI) was 0.91 in the first validation and 1.0 in the second validation. Conclusion: After an integrative literature review, the flowcharts were built and validated by a professional with experience in the area, showing 100% agreement among the experts in the second evaluation. (AU)

Management of wound infection after appendectomy: are parenteral antibiotics useful?

This study investigated the use of antibiotics in the treatment of wound infections after appendectomy. The subjects were 72 patients with post-operative wound infections at a district general hospital in Jordan. All patients received daily antiseptic dressings with povidone-iodine 10% in alcohol. The patients were randomized in a single-blind trial to receive either no antibiotics or parenteral antibiotics metronidazole and cefoxitin. There was no significant effect of antibiotic use in patients with early inflamed or severely inflamed appendicitis. However, for patients with perforated appendicitis the mean length of hospital stay and the mean frequency of change of dressings were significantly reduced. We conclude that antibiotics do not offer any advantage in post-appendectomy wound infections except for cases of perforated appendix