Resource Hub
Publications, guidelines, and downloadable tools for SSI prevention in practice
Surgical Site Infection Prevention in Companion Animal Surgery: A Systematic Review and Clinical Framework
Vezzoni A, et al. — Veterinary Surgery, 2023
DOI: 10.1111/vsu.XXXXXX
A comprehensive systematic review of evidence-based interventions for SSI prevention in small animal surgery, proposing a multi-domain clinical framework for implementation in practice. The review synthesizes data from 87 clinical studies and provides a graded evidence hierarchy for each intervention category.
Access PaperEugster S, Schawalder P, Gaschen F, Boerlin P
A prospective study of postoperative infections in dogs and cats
Veterinary Surgery, 2004
View PaperTurk R, Singh A, Weese JS
Prospective surgical site infection surveillance in dogs
Veterinary Surgery, 2015
View PaperNelson LL
Surgical site infections in small animal surgery
Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 2011
View PaperACVS Guidelines for Perioperative Antibiotic Use in Small Animal Surgery
American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) — 2022
ECVS Position Statement on Surgical Site Infection Prevention
European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS) — 2021
International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases: Antimicrobial Use Guidelines
ISCAID Antimicrobial Guidelines Working Group — 2019
Preoperative SSI Prevention Checklist
PDF · 148 KB
A structured checklist covering all preoperative SSI prevention measures from patient assessment through skin preparation. Suitable for lamination and OR use.
Perioperative Antibiotic Stewardship Quick Reference
PDF · 210 KB
Agent selection guide, dosing table, and timing reference for perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in common veterinary surgical procedures.
SSI Surveillance Audit Template
PDF · 95 KB
A practice-level audit tool for tracking surgical site infections by procedure type, identifying patterns, and benchmarking against published SSI rates.