By Laura Dyrda
A new study published in Spine examines intrawound vancomycin to prevent surgical site infection for patients with spinal tumors and non-spinal tumor patients.
The researchers examined a series of 334 patients who underwent open posterior instrumented surgeries at a single institution between October 2011 and June 2014.
1. There was 1 gram of vancomycin powder sprayed into the surgical site before placing the drain. There were 25 patients with a tumor and 129 patients without tumors in the “before” period and 27 patients with tumors and 153 patients without tumors in the “after” period.