Sterility and Infection Prevention Standards for Anesthesiologists in LMICs: Preventing Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance

Surgical site infections (SSI) affect millions of individuals around the world, leading to a significant burden on perioperative morbidity and healthcare economy. Over the past decade low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) have made substantial advancements on infection prevention strategies. However, the incidence of SSI is still increasing in many LMICs across all surgical specialties, denoting overlooked areas and ongoing challenges. This article aims to describe the role of anesthesiologists on current standards of infection prevention and sterility as well as ongoing developments in resource-limited settings, with a focus on LMICs. Recent estimates indicate a threefold increase in the incidence of SSI across LMICs over the past two decades, approaching two times the estimated SSI incidence of high-income countries. As a result, public health officials have promoted standard practices for infection prevention in the surgical arena by creating multidisciplinary teams and tailoring to the availability of equipment and resources. Anesthesiologists play a pivotal role for the implementation of infection prevention strategies such as antimicrobial prophylaxis, normothermia, intraoperative glucose control, and adequate handling of intravenous anesthetics. Unfortunately, the lack of cohesive practices and leadership structures, along with poor surveillance systems, are still common barriers. One potential method of overcoming these obstacles is investment in sustainable national infection prevention programs. Infection prevention standards should be tailored to local workflow and institutional resources. The successful implementation of programs in LMICs depends on sustainable national infection prevention programs which includes a well-trained team and an institutional climate of safety.