“Association of Surgical Jacket and Bouffant Use With Surgical Site Infection Risk,” authored by current and former orthoapedic surgery trainees, was the most viewed and downloaded article in JAMA Surgery, a peer-reviewed journal, in 2020.

Authors include former resident Bradley Wills, M.D., current PGY3 resident Walt Smith, M.D., and former UAB School of Medicine student Alexandra Arguello, B.S.

JAMA Surgery published their year in review report, and the article views and downloads topped out at 58,000+. In February 2020, the article was also featured in a UAB News story.

According to UAB News, the research team looked at inpatient surgical records for 34,042 patients between January 2017 and October 2018. That time period covered eight months when surgical jackets and bouffants were not required, six months when surgical jackets were required, and eight months when both surgical jackets and bouffants were required.

The authors reported no significant difference in the risk of surgical site infections, mortality or postoperative sepsis during the three different time periods. The cost of the single-use surgical jackets at UAB during the study period was more than $300,000. The authors estimate that the use of surgical jackets alone in all United States hospitals would cost the health care system $540 million annually.

To read more about the team’s research, click here.