Infections after surgery severely impact a patient’s recovery time, particularly with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Thankfully, our talented practitioners and researchers are working hard to improve surgical outcomes to prevent and treat infections.
Surgery Support
Progressing the testing and commercialisation of a new treatment for superbugs which are common in patients who suffer from infections after surgery.
Researcher
Dr Katharina Richter is on a mission to defeat superbugs such as Golden Staph, which are resistant to existing antibiotics and cause 700,000 deaths globally every year.
Trialling a new approach to treating aggressive bowel cancer called personalised Total Neoadjuvant Therapy (pTNT) to improve outcomes for high risk patients needing surgery at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Bowel cancer surgeon Associate Professor Tarik Sammour (middle) and his team are helping patients avoid debilitating surgery with their new approach to bowel cancer treatment.
Testing whether newly developed biosensor technology, capable of discriminating between nerve and bone pain, can measure and predict the development of persistent post-surgical pain.
Researcher
Dr Dusan Matusica hopes to improve the persistent chronic pain that some patients experience after their surgical procedure.
Developing automated software that identifies poor-performing hip implants earlier, which then allows for earlier interventions.
Researcher
Dr Stuart Callary and his team at the Royal Adelaide Hospital are one of the few groups in the world to be using this software.
Finding ways to better deliver treatments for antibiotic-resistant superbugs through the use of a Trojan Horse carrier, which can help deliver treatments directly to a patient’s infection and penetrate the bacteria’s shield.
Dr Nicky Thomas has designed his novel carrier so that it can get inside the bad bacteria and kill it from the inside.
Implementing new sleep and coping methods for patients staying overnight in hospital to improve the quality of a sleep they get.
This in turn improves people’s overall recovery and wellbeing.
Developing a new medical device for hernia repair surgery which aims to prevent implant-related infections.
Dr Katharina Richter says about 40% of the 40,000 hernia repair surgeries performed in Australia every year, result in the mesh becoming infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
