Contents 47


34 The fight against antimicrobial resistance Q-linea


Infection control


35 War on drugs resistance When a novel pandemic fills hospitals and stretches resources to breaking point, it’s hard to avoid overusing antibiotics – even if doing so might create even bigger problems for tomorrow. Allie Anderson speaks to Gemma Buckland-Merrett, the science and research lead of the drug-resistant infections priority programme at the Wellcome Trust, to find out how the pandemic has impacted antimicrobial resistance, and asks Jeremy Barr, senior lecturer at the school of biological sciences at Melbourne’s Monash University, whether the answer might be to turn viruses on the bacteria.


Wound care


38 The invisible enemy Where there’s a chronic wound, there’s probably a biofilm. Where there’s wound care, however, there isn’t necessarily a strategy for addressing it. Natalie Healey talks to Karen Ousey, professor of skin integrity at the University of Huddersfield, about the role of biofilms in interrupting wound healing, new diagnostic tools for detecting them, and the measures that practitioners can implement today.


42 Practical perspective on wound infection B. Braun


Operating room technology


44 Trust in the machine Although AI diagnosis aids have made tangible differences to patient


51 Personal touch 51 6


Given the heterogeneity of patients and the broad definition of conditions like acute respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis, precision medicine is as applicable in the ICU as anywhere else. Radhika Holmström speaks to Kiran Reddy of Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Cecilia O’Kane, clinical professor at Queen’s University Belfast, and Imperial College London’s Anthony Gordon – authors of a recent review article on the topic – about how biomarkers can be used to identify subphenotypes of each condition and tailor treatment to improve patient outcomes.


54 Magnetic body shaping Fotona


Practical Patient Care / www.practical-patient-care.com


outcomes, recent technological developments in the operating room have focused more on manual dexterity than its mental equivalent. But, as deep learning gets wiser, it’s time to look at the limits and possibilities of our non- human assistants in the operating room. Mae Losasso considers what AI can and can’t do for surgeons with help from Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, co-director of the Hamlyn Centre of Robotics at Imperial College London.


Critical care 47 High intensity


The equipment is the easy part. Beds are an important measure, but ICUs wouldn’t be needed at all if frames and mattresses alone saved lives. Unlike the people working around them, they don’t keep the system from toppling, nor will their shelter count for much if it does. Unfortunately, minds can’t be laundered like sheets. Sarah Graham asks Tim Cook, consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine at Royal United Hospitals in Bath, UK, and Greg Martin, president of the US Society of Critical Care Medicine, about the impact of the pandemic on ICU doctors and nurses.


50 SEM an early indicator of pressure injuries Arjo


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