Emergency War Surgery NATO Handbook: Part II: Response of the Body to Wounding: Chapter XI: Infection

Etiologic Factors

United States Department of Defense

The development of a wound Infection is associated with one or more of the following factors:

1. Delay in surgical treatment.

2. Inadequate wound debridement.

3. Associated vascular injury resulting in regional tissue ischemia.

4. Inadequate hemostasis at the initial wound operation, resulting in subsequent hematoma formation.

5. Retention of foreign bodies within the wound.

6. Failure to provide adequate drainage.

7. Tight packing of the wound or the use of tight circular dressings or casts.

8. Primary closure of war wounds.

9. Failure to recognize and treat a perforated hollow viscus.

10. Wound contamination with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.

11. Seecondary contamination from fomites or exposure to personnel who are carriers of pyogenic bacteria.

12. Presence of metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, which predispose to the development and spread of infection.

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Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

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