Abstract
IT is probable that all surgical wounds are inoculated with bacteria at operation.1 2 3 Whether or not sepsis develops depends on the summation of forces exerted by many factors. Among these are the invasive capacity of the organism, the resistance of the host, the size of the inoculum, the degree of excellence in surgical or antiseptic technic, the presence of physiologic derangements, the type of tissue involved and climatic or seasonal variations in bacterial flora.Recently, a new factor, epidemiologic in nature, that appears to be related to the use of antibiotics has been introduced—namely, the dissemination of drug-resistant bacteria. It . . .