Two new practice guidelines are available online.

Guidelines on the best treatments to prevent infections in patients undergoing surgical procedures were published in the Feb. 1, 2013, edition the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy and the February 2013 edition of Surgical Infections. The guidelines are intended to provide clinicians with a standardized approach to the rational, safe, and effective use of antimicrobial agents for the prevention of surgical-site infections. They focus on primary perioperative prophylaxis.

Available for free online, the guidelines are the result of a collaboration between IDSA, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the Surgical Infection Society (SIS), and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. They replace separate guidelines developed on this topic by ASHP, IDSA, and SIS.

Updated guidelines on the management of severe sepsis and septic shock from the Society of Critical Care Medicine were published in the February 2013 issue of Critical Care Medicine and are also available for free online (PDF). The recommendations are intended to provide guidance for clinicians caring for a patient with severe sepsis or septic shock in the intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU settings. The committee that developed the guidelines included representatives from more than 30 organizations, including IDSA, which has endorsed the guideline.

Visit the IDSA website for additional practice guidelines and related clinical tools.

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