Authors' recommendations: Surgical site infections (SSIs) occur in approximately 2.0% to 3.5% of surgeries and have potentially serious consequences including death. These infections prolong hospitalization and increase costs. Postoperative SSIs account for approximately 20% of hospital-acquired infections. SSI is defined as an infection at the surgical site occurring within 30 days after surgery or within 1 year if an implant was placed. Compared with uninfected patients, patients with SSIs are hospitalized for approximately 1 or 2 weeks longer, have a 60% increased probability of admittance to an intensive care unit, are 5 times more likely to return for continued care within 30 days of discharge, and have 2 to 11 times the mortality rate. Up to 3.5% of patients with SSI are at risk of death due to the infection. Prevention protocols to reduce the incidence of SSIs aim to minimize microbial contamination of the surgical site. Strategies include surgical hand preparation, appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis, hair removal, perioperative glucose control, preoperative scrubbing with antiseptics, and maintenance of normothermia. Preoperative skin preparation involves both preoperative showering or bathing and the disinfection of the surgical site prior to surgery. Topical antiseptics are applied to the skin by the surgical team preoperatively to reduce SSI risk. The main types of antiseptics are iodine or iodophor (such as povidone-iodine), alcohol, and chlorhexidine gluconate.

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2014

URL for published report: The report may be purchased from: http://www.hayesinc.com/hayes/crd/?crd=10164

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: HAYES, Inc.

Contact Address: 157 S. Broad Street, Suite 200, Lansdale, PA 19446, USA. Tel: 215 855 0615; Fax: 215 855 5218

Contact Name: saleinfo@hayesinc.com

Contact Email: saleinfo@hayesinc.com

Copyright: 2014 Winifred S. Hayes, Inc