Evaluation of post-surgical site infection wounds in a tertiary care hospital of Central India

Abstract

Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the commonest hospital-acquired infections globally. Materials and Methods: A total of 2083 cases were included in the study; surgical sites were graded in accordance to the set of clinical criteria recommended by the CDC’s NNIS system. We graded the wounds on the basis of culture positive with respect to age and sex, pre-operative hospitalization, duration of surgery, duration of drain, hemoglobin levels, random blood sugar, and smoking. Results: The total males and females included were 1561 and 522, respectively. The age group of 40–50 years was the highest operated group, whereas the 12–21 age group was with least surgeries. The numbers of SSI were higher in subjects with longer pre-operative hospital stay. The occurrence of SSIs was higher in surgeries with longer duration. Patients with drain of longer duration had higher number of SSIs when compared with subjects with no drain in wounds. The hemoglobin pattern suggested that anemic subjects were more susceptible to SSIs when compared with non-anemic subjects. Diabetic patients were more prone to SSI when compared with non-diabetic subjects. Smokers were more prone to SSIs when compared with non-smokers. Conclusion: The study established a relationship between SSI and various factors, which would help clinicians in handling cases of post-operative SSIs.