Foundation gives $1 million for study of post-surgical infection
Daniel Sessler, M.D.
A Louisville-based foundation is funding a study to see whether a cost-free change in anesthetic practice can reduce the occurrence of surgical wound infections -- a common and serious complication that is especially dangerous in the elderly, who now constitute half of all surgical patients.
The Gheens Foundation announced in December that it will provide $1 million to support surgical wound infections research conducted by UofL's Outcomes Research Institute. Daniel Sessler, M.D., and Ozan Akça, M.D., of UofL's Department of Anesthesiology are directing the study.
The institute already has proven that administering more oxygen cuts the risk of infection in half by providing extra oxygen to tissues fighting infection.
Investigators also have shown that increasing blood carbon dioxide levels increases tissue oxygen concentration. This can be done by slowing the respiratory rate during surgery.
The proposed study would attempt to confirm that an increase in tissue oxygen resulting from increased carbon dioxide concentration reduces infection risk.
Jim Davis, executive director of the Gheens Foundation, says this study was particularly appealing to the foundation because of its interest in aging.
In 2000 the foundation created the Gheens Center for Research on Aging at the University of Louisville with a gift of $2.5 million, and in 2001, Eugenia Wang, Ph.D., became director of the center and the Gheens Foundation Inc. Chair in Aging Research.
The position was funded through Kentucky's Research Challenge Trust Fund, also known as Bucks for Brains.
Davis says the foundation also was interested because of the pragmatic approach of the Outcomes Research Institute.
"It's good cutting-edge research that will help people and is directly tied to treatment. This research is good for patients and good for Louisville."
Sessler -- the School of Medicine vice dean for research, Lolita S. and Samuel D. Weakley Endowed Research Chair and Distinguished University Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology -- says the study will include up to 2000 patients in four countries.
"This grant will allow us to test the hypothesis that a simple and cost-free change in anesthetic practice will reduce the risk of a devastating and expensive complication," he says.
The Outcomes Research Institute is a nonprofit group of 50 investigators in 10 countries. The group's members work on a broad array of projects, but their focus is testing simple, low-cost and low-risk interventions that may markedly improve how patients fare.
Many of their recommendations have become industry standards. Because of their work, for example, the practice now is to keep patients warm during surgery.
"Our research focuses on procedures that cost between zero and $10 per patient, but that have substantial potential to reduce complications and improve outcomes," Sessler says.
He notes that there is no cost associated with elevating carbon dioxide levels in the blood during surgery.
Sessler, brought to UofL through Kentucky's Bucks for Brains program, received the 2002 Excellence in Research Award from the American Society of Anesthesiologists for his groundbreaking work on the effects of patient temperature variations during and after surgery.
