8 MARCH 2026IN MY OPINIONSSIs Are Not Minor Short-term Problems, They're Major Long-term BurdensBy Gianluca Casali, Medical Director, UK and Ireland JnJ Medical Devices, Johnson & JohnsonDuring the entirety of my medical career, rarely have I come across a healthcare burden as grossly underestimated as surgical site infections (SSIs). They're often thought of as an acute events with minimal impact on the long-term quality of a patient's life, on mortality and on cost. Unfortunately, this is not true. SSIs are not simply a minor problem that can be easily treated with antibiotics and therefore cause only a minor delay in the recovery process. In fact, they can have a detrimental impact on long-term survival, morbidity rates, and financial burden on healthcare systems.Recent evidence collected in different countries and for different pathologies suggests that even SSIs that are treated effectively can have a detrimental impact on long-term survival. A Canadian study looked at over 14,000 patients between 2010 and 2015 and revealed Gianluca Casali
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