National Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Research Articles

National Surgical Site Infection Surveillance System Results Report: July 2021 through June 2022

National Surgical Site Infection Surveillance System Results Report: July 2021 through June 2022

Impact of penicillin allergy labels on surgical site infections in a large UK cohort of gastrointestinal surgery patients.

Studies in the USA, Canada and France have reported higher surgical site infection (SSI) risk in patients with a penicillin allergy label (PAL). Here, we investigate the association between PALs and SSI in the UK, a country with distinct epidemiology of infecting pathogens and range of antimicrobial regimens in routine use. Electronic health records and national SSI surveillance data were collated for a retrospective cohort of gastrointestinal surgery patients at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2021. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to examine the effects of PALs and the use of non-β-lactam-based prophylaxis on likelihood of SSI, 30 day post-operative mortality, 7 day post-operative acute kidney injury and 60 day post-operative infection/colonization with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria or Clostridioides difficile. Our data comprised 3644 patients and 4085 operations; 461 were undertaken in the presence of PALs (11.3%). SSI was detected after 435/4085 (10.7%) operations. Neither the presence of PALs, nor the use of non-β-lactam-based prophylaxis were found to be associated with SSI: adjusted OR (aOR) 0.90 (95% CI 0.65-1.25) and 1.20 (0.88-1.62), respectively. PALs were independently associated with increased odds of newly identified MRSA infection/colonization in the 60 days after surgery: aOR 2.71 (95% CI 1.13-6.49). Negative association was observed for newly identified infection/colonization with third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: aOR 0.38 (95% CI 0.16-0.89). No evidence was found for an association between PALs and the likelihood of SSI in this large UK cohort, suggesting significant international variation in the impact of PALs on surgical patients.

Surgical site infection surveillance in German hospitals: a national survey to determine the status quo of digitalization

BackgroundSurveillance of surgical site infections (SSI) relies on access to data from various sources. Insights into the practices of German hospitals conducting SSI surveillance and their information technology (IT) infrastructures are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate current SSI surveillance practices in German hospitals with a focus on employed IT infrastructures.MethodsGerman surgical departments actively participating in the national SSI surveillance module “OP-KISS” were invited in August 2020 to participate in a questionnaire-based online survey. Depending on whether departments entered all data manually or used an existing feature to import denominator data into the national surveillance database, departments were separated into different groups. Selected survey questions differed between groups.ResultsOf 1,346 invited departments, 821 participated in the survey (response rate: 61%). Local IT deficits (n = 236), incompatibility of import specifications and hospital information system (n = 153) and lack of technical expertise (n = 145) were cited as the most frequent reasons for not using the denominator data import feature. Conversely, reduction of workload (n = 160) was named as the main motivation to import data. Questions on data availability and accessibility in the electronic hospital information system (HIS) and options to export data from the HIS for the purpose of surveillance, yielded diverse results. Departments utilizing the import feature tended to be from larger hospitals with a higher level of care.ConclusionsThe degree to which digital solutions were employed for SSI surveillance differed considerably between surgical departments in Germany. Improving availability and accessibility of information in HIS and meeting interoperability standards will be prerequisites for increasing the amount of data exported directly from HIS to national databases and laying the foundation for automated SSI surveillance on a broad scale.

Are cross-sectional safety climate survey results in operating room staff associated with the surgical site infection rates in Swiss hospitals?

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the association between surgical site infections (SSIs), a major source of patient harm, and safety and teamwork climate. Prior research has been...

Components of Existing National Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Programs Based on a Case Series of Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Building Blocks for Success and Opportunities for Improvement.

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance programs are recommended to be included in national infection prevention and control (IPC) programs, yet few exist in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs). Our goal was to identify components of surveillance in existing programs that could be replicated elsewhere and note opportunities for improvement to build awareness for other countries in the process of developing their own national surgical site infection surveillance (nSSIS) programs. Methods: We administered a survey built upon the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's framework for surveillance system evaluation to systematically deconstruct logistical infrastructure of existing nSSIS programs in LMICs. Qualitative analyses of survey responses by thematic elements were used to identify successful surveillance system components and recognize opportunities for improvement. Results: Three respondents representing countries in Europe and Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia designated as upper middle-income, lower middle-income, and low-income responded. Notable strengths described by respondents included use of local paper documentation, staggered data entry, and limited data entry fields. Opportunities for improvement included outpatient data capture, broader coverage of healthcare centers within a nation, improved audit processes, defining the denominator of number of surgical procedures, and presence of an easily accessible, free SSI surveillance training program for healthcare workers. Conclusions: Outpatient post-surgery surveillance, national coverage of healthcare facilities, and training on how to take local SSI surveillance data and integrate it within a broader nSSIS program at the national level remain areas of opportunities for countries looking to implement a nSSIS program.

Antibiotic Use, Incidence and Risk Factors for Orthopedic Surgical Site Infections in a Teaching Hospital in Madhya Pradesh, India.

Orthopedic surgeries contribute to the overall surgical site infection (SSI) events worldwide. In India, SSI rates vary considerably (1.6–38%); however, there is a lack of a national SSI surveillance system. This study aims to identify the SSI incidence, risk factors, antibiotic prescription and susceptibility patterns among operated orthopedic patients in a teaching hospital in India. Data for 1205 patients were collected from 2013 to 2016. SSIs were identified based on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control guidelines. The American Society for Anesthesiologists classification system was used to predict patients’ operative risk. Univariable and multivariable backward stepwise logistic regressions were performed. Overall, 7.6% of patients developed SSIs over three years. The most common SSIs causative microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus (7%), whose strains were resistant to penicillin (100%), erythromycin (80%), cotrimoxazole (80%), amikacin (60%) and cefoxitin (60%). Amikacin was the most prescribed antibiotic (36%). Male sex (OR 2.64; 95%CI 1.32–5.30), previous hospitalization (OR 2.15; 95%CI 1.25–3.69), antibiotic prescription during hospitalization before perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (OR 4.19; 95%CI 2.51–7.00) and postoperative length of stay > 15 days (OR 3.30; 95%CI 1.83–5.95) were identified as significant risk factors. Additionally, preoperative shower significantly increased the SSI risk (OR 4.73; 95%CI 2.72–8.22), which is unconfirmed in the literature so far.

An interventional nationwide surveillance program lowers postoperative infection rates in elective colorectal surgery. A cohort study (2008–2019)

BackgroundColorectal surgery is associated with the highest rate of surgical site infection (SSI). This study analyses the effectiveness of an interventional surveillance program on SSI rates after elective colorectal surgery. Material and methodsCohort study showing temporal trends of SSI rates and Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR) in elective colorectal surgery over a 12-year period. Prospectively collected data of a national SSI surveillance program was analysed and the effect of specific interventions was evaluated. Patient and procedure characteristics, as well as SIR and SSI rates were stratified by risk categories and type of SSI analysed using stepwise multivariate logistic regression models. ResultsIn a cohort of 42,330 operations, overall cumulative SSI incidence was 16.31%, and organ-space SSI (O/S–SSI) was 8.59%. There was a 61.63% relative decrease in SSI rates (rho = −0.95804). The intervention which achieved the greatest SSI reduction was a bundle of 6 measures. SSI in pre-bundle period was 19.73% vs. 11.10% in post-bundle period (OR 1.969; IC 95% 1.860–2.085; p < 0.0001). O/S–SSI were 9.08% vs. 6.06%, respectively (OR 1.547; IC 95% 1.433–1.670; p < 0.0001). Median length of stay was 7 days, with a significant decrease over the studied period (rho = −0.98414). Mortality of the series was 1.08%, ranging from 0.35% to 2.0%, but a highly significant decrease was observed (rho = −0.67133). ConclusionsDetailed analysis of risk factors and postoperative infection in colorectal surgery allows strategies for reducing SSI incidence to be designed. An interventional surveillance program has been effective in decreasing SIR and SSI rates.

EP.TU.870Challenges of Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) and Stoma

Abstract Aims Surgical site infection (SSI) is a costly health burden and is frequently observed in patients who undergo large bowel surgeries with stoma formation. The use of PICO has been associated with reduced rate of SSI and its use is encouraged by NICE. Method We identified patients who underwent elective or emergency large bowel surgeries, between 2014-2018, using the local database collected for national SSI surveillance. PICO order forms were cross-referenced with SSI database. Analysed data is presented as percentages, and variable testing is performed using Chi Square test. Results The overall rate of SSIs was 12.7%. 6.8% of the cohort developed an incisional SSI, while 5.9% developed an organ/space SSI. The presence of stoma had a significant impact in the rate of incisional SSI (10.3% v 4.2%; p = 0.000179). Amongst all patients with PICO dressing applied, stoma formation was associated with a higher rate of incisional SSI (15.2% vs 6.9%, p = 0.042). 28.7% patients with stoma formation had PICO applied. The use of PICO in this group of patients was associated with statistically significant improvement in the rate of incisional SSI (4.4% v 8.4%; p = 0.026) but not in the rate of organ/ space SSI (2.1% v 4.5%; p = 0.18). Similar findings were not observed when considering elective and emergency cases separately. Conclusion The risk of incisional SSIs is high in patients with stoma formation, even in those who had PICO dressing fitted. Tricky fitting of PICO dressing in the presence of stoma could be one hurdle in reducing SSIs.

Urgency of surgery as an indicator for the occurrence of surgical site infections: data from over 100,000 surgical procedures

The risk for surgical site infections (SSIs) is influenced by patient- and procedure-related factors. Urgent surgery represents a challenge in operative medicine and is frequently linked to a variety of complications, including SSIs. We aimed to investigate whether urgency was significantly associated with SSI occurrence, and determine whether collection of this variable provided useful information for SSI surveillance. We performed a retrospective data analysis of caesarean sections (C-sections) and colon surgeries conducted between 2017 and 2019 within the German national SSI surveillance network. A multivariable logistic regression model was utilized to determine the influence of urgency on SSI occurrence. For this purpose, data on procedures and SSIs were associated with available department- and patient-related parameters. A total of 115,648 procedures were included in the analysis: 78,288 C-sections and 37,360 colon surgeries. For C-sections, the SSI rate per 100 procedures was 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.85-1.11) for urgent and 0.46 (0.40-0.53) for elective procedures (P<0.001). For open colon surgeries, SSI rates were 9.66 (8.89-10.49) for urgent and 8.60 (8.13-9.11) for elective procedures (P<0.001). For laparoscopic colon surgeries, SSI rates did not differ significantly. Multivariable analysis revealed that urgency significantly increased the likelihood of SSI occurrence only for C-sections. Urgency significantly increased the SSI risk of C-sections, but not colon surgeries. Hence, collection of this variable is useful for SSI surveillance of C-sections, but may be dispensable for other procedures. Future analyses on the matter should therefore focus on other procedure types.

Survey of National Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance programs are strongly recommended as a core component of effective national infection prevention and control (IPC) programs. Participation in national SSI surveillance (nSSIS) programs has been shown to decrease reported SSIs among high-income countries (HICs), and it is expected that the same is possible among low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We sought to determine what, if any nSSIS programs exist among LMICs. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed to evaluate existence of nSSIS of World Bank-defined LMICs. A digital survey assessment for presence of national IPC and nSSIS programs was delivered to persons capable of identifying the presence of such a program. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained for this study. Results: Of the 137 countries identified, 55 (40%) were upper middle income (UMI), 47 (34%) were lower middle income (LMI), and 34 (25%) were low income. Representatives from 39 (28%) LMICs completed the survey. Of these respondent countries, 13 (33%) reported the presence of a national IPC program. There was no difference between countries with IPC programs and those without with respect to country income designation, population size, World Health Organization region, or conflict status. Only five (13% of all respondents) reported presence of a nSSIS program. Conclusions: National surgical site infection surveillance programs are an integral component of a country's ability to provide safe surgical procedures. Presence of nSSIS was reported infrequently in LMICs. International governing bodies should be encouraged to guide LMIC leadership in establishing a nSSIS infrastructure that will help enable safe surgical procedures.

PSU14 HEALTHCARE BURDEN OF SURGICAL SITE INFECTIONS FOLLOWING CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS GRAFT SURGERY

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is an established procedure and post-CABG surgical site infections (SSIs) have decreased since use of antibiotic prophylaxis became standardized. SSIs, though, still complicate the recovery of many patients placing additional burden of healthcare services. Here, the cost and resource use burden of these SSIs is estimated for the EU. A published Markov-model representing CABG care was adapted to focus purely on inpatient costs. Input parameters were: annual CABG procedures, SSI rates, ratio SSIs to SWIs, length of stay, hospital time to treat SWIs, and the cost per day of intensive care unit (ICU) and general ward. The model was populated with data from national SSI surveillance programmes and costs from peer-reviewed publications and the World Health Organization. Where data from EU countries was not available, proxy values based on data from other European. The model estimated the per country and EU annual economic burden of CABG-related SSIs. Full data were identified for Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom (72.8% of the EU28 population). CABG rates ranged from 17.86 to 64.75 procedures per 100,000 population, while 2.4% to 10.4% of CABG patients were subsequently affected by SSIs. For these 10 countries, the annual cost of CABG-related SSIs was almost €97 million. This cost included an additional 15,172 ICU days, 79,522 general ward days, and 3,392 readmissions. Post-CABG SSIs accounted for an average additional cost per patient of €480 in Germany, €418 in France, and €404 in the UK. Extrapolating up to the EU28, the cost burden was estimated to be over €115 million per year. The cost of post-CABG SSIs is a substantial burden in the EU and there are economic grounds for considering new methods for reducing the incidence of postoperative SSIs.

Burden of surgical site infections in the Netherlands: cost analyses and disability-adjusted life years

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are associated with morbidity, mortality and costs. To identify the burden of (deep) SSIs in costs and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) following colectomy, mastectomy and total hip arthroplasty (THA) in the Netherlands. A retrospective cost-analysis was performed using 2011 data from the national SSI surveillance network PREZIES. Sixty-two patients with an SSI (exposed) were matched to 122 patients without an SSI (unexposed, same type of surgery). Patient records were studied until 1 year after SSI diagnosis. Unexposed patients were followed for the same duration. Costs were calculated from the hospital perspective (2016 price level), and cost differences were tested using linear regression analyses. Disease burden was estimated using the Burden of Communicable Disease in Europe Toolkit of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The SSI model was specified by type of surgery, with country- and surgery-specific parameters where possible. Attributable costs per SSI were €21,569 (THA), €14,084 (colectomy) and €1881 (mastectomy), mainly caused by prolonged length of hospital stay. National hospital costs were estimated at €10 million, €29 million and €0.6 million, respectively. National disease burden was greatest for SSIs following colectomy (3200 DALYs/year, 150 DALYs/100 SSIs), while individual disease burden was highest following THA (1200 DALYs/year, 250 DALYs/100 SSIs). For mastectomy, these DALYs were <1. The total cost of DALYs for the three types of surgery exceeded €88 million. Depending on the type of surgery, SSIs cause a significant burden, both economically and in loss of years in full health. This underlines the importance of appropriate infection prevention and control measures.

Frequent Door Openings During Cardiac Surgery Are Associated With Increased Risk for Surgical Site Infection: A Prospective Observational Study

Preliminary studies that analyzed surrogate markers have suggested that operating room (OR) door openings may be a risk factor for surgical site infection (SSI). We therefore aimed to estimate the effect of OR door openings on SSI risk in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This prospective, observational study involved consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery in 2 prespecified ORs equipped with automatic door-counting devices from June 2016 to October 2017. Occurrence of an SSI within 30 days after cardiac surgery was our primary outcome measure. Respective outcome data were obtained from a national SSI surveillance cohort. We analyzed the relationship between mean OR door opening frequencies and SSI risk by use of uni- and multivariable Cox regression models. A total of 301 594 OR door openings were recorded during the study period, with 87 676 eligible door openings being logged between incision and skin closure. There were 688 patients included in the study, of whom 24 (3.5%) developed an SSI within 30 days after surgery. In uni- and multivariable analysis, an increased mean door opening frequency during cardiac surgery was associated with higher risk for consecutive SSI (adjusted hazard ratio per 5-unit increment, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-2.00; P = .008). The observed effect was driven by internal OR door openings toward the clean instrument preparation room. Frequent door openings during cardiac surgery were independently associated with an increased risk for SSI. This finding warrants further study to establish a potentially causal relationship between OR door openings and the occurrence of SSI.

Surgical site infection after trans urethral resection of the prostate (TURP): 2008-2013 French national SSI surveillance ISO-RAISIN.

To describe surgical site infection (SSI) after transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) from the French national database. A national SSI surveillance system was implemented in 1999. Each year, the network included urology departments that included at least two months plus one month follow-up, or at least 100 consecutive targeted surgical procedures. A dataset of patients who underwent urology procedures during the six-year period 2008-2013 was made available. SSI diagnosis was made according to standardised CDC criteria. Descriptive analyses were performed using SAS software version 9.4. A total of 12,897 TURPs were performed by 89 urology departments. The crude incidence SSI rate was 2.43 (95% confidence interval = 2.16-2.79). The mean delay for diagnosis was 11.9 ± 8.9 days. The treatment of the SSI required a new surgical intervention in 1.35%. In the multilevel multivariate analysis, ASA score and duration of follow-up were the only parameters correlated with the SSI rate. On more than 12,000 TURPs surveyed, the SSI rate was 2.43. ASA score and duration of follow-up were the only parameters correlated with the SSI rate.

Optimal Timing of Surgical Antimicrobial Prophylaxis with Cefuroxim: Challenging the WHO Guidelines with 121,000 Prospectively Followed Patients

BackgroundSurgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) is standard of care in clean surgery involving implants and in clean-contaminated surgical procedures. Timing of application of the antibiotic remains a debate: WHO recently extended the time prior to incision from 60 to 120 minutes, while CDC considers the availabdata insufficient to provide evidence-based guideline for timing. In addition, studies to date included different types of antibiotics with different T ½. Therefore, we prospectively followed 250’000 patients to further define the optimal timing for SAPMethodsThe Swiss national center for infection prevention (www.swissnoso.ch) started surveillance for surgical site infection (SSI) in 2009. Currently, 172 institutions participate throughout Switzerland, with routine postdicharge surveillance (adherence >90%) and on-site quality audits by a physician or infection control practitioner. The data collection includes age, sex, type of surgery, timing of SAP in minutes prior to incision, BMI, ASA score, antimicrobial agent. Inclusion criteria for this study were: adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery, orthopedic or abdominal surgery, antimicrobial prophylaxis with cefuroxime only (+metronidazole for abdominal surgery) and pathogen identified in cases of SSI was cefuroxime-susceptible. Data were analyzed using a generalized additive model (GAM) to allow non-parametric fits with relaxed assumptions on the actual relationship between response and predictorResultsOf the 258’481 patients in the national SSI surveillance database 121’645 fulfilled the inclusion criteria (38% of patients did not require SAP, 18% had surgery with contaminated or dirty wounds, 2.7% were <18 years and data on timing and class of antibiotic were missing in 5.7%). The lowest risk of SSI was observed with application of SAP 0–30min prior incision, even after adjustment for age, sex, ASA score, type of surgery, BMI, and T1/2. (Figure, CI95 in blue area)ConclusionTiming of SAP (with cefuroxime) 0–30 minutes prior to incision was associated with the lowest risk of SSI, challenging a previous randomized controlled trial and recent WHO guidelines.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Contribution of Prior, Multiple-, and Repetitive Surgeries to the Risk of Surgical Site Infections in the Netherlands.

OBJECTIVE Surveillance is an important strategy to reduce the incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs). We investigated whether prior, multiple-, or repetitive surgeries are risk factors for SSI and whether they should be preserved in the protocol of the Dutch national SSI surveillance network. METHODS Dutch national SSI surveillance data 2012-2015 were selected, including 34 commonly performed procedures from 8 major surgical specialties. Definitions of SSIs followed international standardized criteria. We used multivariable multilevel logistic regression techniques to evaluate whether prior, multiple-, or repetitive procedure(s) are risk factors for SSIs. We considered surgeries clustered within partnerships of medical specialists and within hospitals (random effects) and different baseline risks between surgical specialties (fixed effects). Several patient and surgical characteristics were considered possible confounders and were included where necessary. We performed analyses for superficial and deep SSIs combined as well as separately. RESULTS In total, 115,943 surgeries were reported by 85 hospitals; among them, 2,960 (2.6%) resulted in SSIs (49.3% deep SSIs). The odds ratio (OR) for having prior surgery was 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74-1.20); the OR for repetitive surgery was 2.39 (95% CI, 2.06-2.77); and the OR for multiple surgeries was1.27 (95% CI, 1.07-1.51). The latter effect was mainly caused by prolonged duration of surgery. CONCLUSIONS Multiple- and repetitive surgeries significantly increased the risk of an SSI, whereas prior surgery did not. Therefore, prior surgery is not an essential data item to include in the national SSI surveillance network. The increased risk of SSIs for multiple surgeries was mainly caused by prolonged duration of surgery, therefore, it may be sufficient to report only duration of surgery to the surveillance network, instead of both (the variables duration of surgery and multiple surgeries). Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:1298-1305.

Adhering to a national surgical care bundle reduces the risk of surgical site infections.

BackgroundIn 2008, a bundle of care to prevent Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) was introduced in the Netherlands. The bundle consisted of four elements: antibiotic prophylaxis according to local guidelines, no hair removal, normothermia and ‘hygiene discipline’ in the operating room (i.e. number of door movements). Dutch hospitals were advised to implement the bundle and to measure the outcome. This study’s goal was to assess how effective the bundle was in reducing SSI risk.MethodsHospitals assessed whether their staff complied with each of the bundle elements and voluntary reported compliance data to the national SSI surveillance network (PREZIES). From PREZIES data, we selected data from 2009 to 2014 relating to 13 types of surgical procedures. We excluded surgeries with missing (non)compliance data, and calculated for each remaining surgery with reported (non)compliance data the level of compliance with the bundle (that is, being compliant with 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 of the elements). Subsequently, we used this level of compliance to assess the effect of bundle compliance on the SSI risk, using multilevel logistic regression techniques.Results217 489 surgeries were included, of which 62 486 surgeries (29%) had complete bundle reporting. Within this group, the SSI risk was significantly lower for surgeries with complete bundle compliance compared to surgeries with lower compliance levels. Odds ratios ranged from 0.63 to 0.86 (risk reduction of 14% to 37%), while a 13% risk reduction was demonstrated for each point increase in compliance-level. Sensitivity analysis indicated that due to analysing reported bundles only, we probably underestimated the total effect of implementing the bundle.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that adhering to a surgical care bundle significantly reduced the risk of SSIs. Reporting of and compliance with the bundle compliance can, however, still be improved. Therefore an even greater effect might be achieved.

First Results of the Swiss National Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Program: Who Seeks Shall Find.

OBJECTIVES To report on the results of the Swiss national surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance program, including temporal trends, and to describe methodological characteristics that may influence SSI rates DESIGN Countrywide survey of SSI over a 4-year period. Analysis of prospectively collected data including patient and procedure characteristics as well as aggregated SSI rates stratified by risk categories, type of SSI, and time of diagnosis. Temporal trends were analyzed using stepwise multivariate logistic regression models with adjustment of the effect of the duration of participation in the surveillance program for confounding factors. SETTING The study included 164 Swiss public and private hospitals with surgical activities. RESULTS From October 2011 to September 2015, a total of 187,501 operations performed in this setting were included. Cumulative SSI rates varied from 0.9% for knee arthroplasty to 14.4% for colon surgery. Postdischarge follow-up was completed in >90% of patients at 1 month for surgeries without an implant and in >80% of patients at 12 months for surgeries with an implant. High rates of SSIs were detected postdischarge, from 20.7% in colon surgeries to 93.3% in knee arthroplasties. Overall, the impact of the duration of surveillance was significantly and independently associated with a decrease in SSI rates in herniorraphies and C-sections but not for the other procedures. Nevertheless, some hospitals observed significant decreases in their rates for various procedures. CONCLUSIONS Intensive post-discharge surveillance may explain high SSI rates and cause artificial differences between programs. Surveillance per se, without structured and mandatory quality improvement efforts, may not produce the expected decrease in SSI rates. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:697-704.

Challenges in reporting surgical site infections to the national surgical site infection surveillance and suggestions for improvement.

Mandatory orthopaedic surgical site infection (SSI) data in England are used as a benchmark to compare infection rates between participating hospitals. According to the national guidelines, trusts are required to submit their data for at least one quarter of the year but they are free to report for all quarters. Owing to this ambiguity, there is a concern about robust reporting across trusts and therefore the accuracy of these data. There is also concern about the accuracy of collection methods. The aim of this five-year retrospective study was to assess the accuracy of SSI reporting at two hospitals in South East England under the same trust. A retrospective review was carried out of five years of electronic medical records, microbiology data and readmission data of all patients who underwent hip and knee replacement surgery at these hospitals. These data were validated with the data submitted to Public Health England (PHE) and any discrepancy between the two was noted. A significant difference was found in the SSI rates reported by the surveillance staff and our retrospective method. Our study confirms the findings of a national survey, which raised concerns about the quality of SSI reporting and the usefulness of PHE SSI data for benchmarking purposes. To our knowledge, there are no previously published studies that have looked at the accuracy of the English orthopaedic SSI surveillance. In the light of our findings, there is an urgent need for external validation studies to identify the extent of the problem in the surveillance scheme. The governing bodies should also issue clear guidelines for reporting SSIs to maintain homogeneity and to present the true incidence of SSI. We suggest some measures that we have instituted to address these inadequacies that have led to significant improvements in reporting at our trust.

The Italian national surgical site infection surveillance programme and its positive impact, 2009 to 2011.

Programmes surveying surgical site infection (SSI) have been implemented throughout the world and are associated with a reduction in SSI rates. We report data on non-prosthetic surgery from the Italian SSI surveillance programme for the period 2009 to 2011. Participation in the programme was voluntary. We evaluated the occurrence of SSI, based on protocols from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, within 30 days of surgery. Demographic data, risk factors, type of surgery and presence of SSI were recorded. The National Coordinating Centre analysed the pooled data. On 355 surgical wards 60,460 operations were recorded, with the number of surveyed intervention doubling over the study period. SSI was observed in 1,628 cases (2,6%) and 60% of SSI were diagnosed through 30-days post discharge surveillance. Operations performed in hospitals with at least two years of surveillance showed a 29% lower risk of SSI. Longer intervention duration, American Society of Anesthesiologists’ (ASA) score of at least three, and pre-surgery hospital stay of at least two days were associated with increased risk of SSI, while videoscopic procedures had reduced SSI rates. Implementation of a national surveillance programme was helpful in reducing SSI rates and should be prioritised in all healthcare systems.