Improving Infection Prevention in Cardiac Surgery: A Quality Improvement Project on Antibiotic Prophylaxis

Health care-associated infections, particularly surgical site infections, are a persistent issue and major cause of morbidity and mortality among surgical patients. Infections cause significant financial burden and can have lasting negative effects on patients, particularly in cardiac surgery. Despite standard infection prevention measures, a notable increase in postoperative infections was observed in a high-volume cardiac surgery center in 2018. A two-year quality improvement project was conducted to enhance perioperative team member knowledge of antibiotic-resistance trends and implement an antibiotic protocol that included methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus prophylaxis. The project involved education, updates to the electronic medical record, and data collection and analysis. Although results indicated no significant change in SSI rates post intervention (P = .81), this may have been because of an existing low methicillin-resistant S aureus prevalence at the center. The study underscores the importance of continuous evaluation and adaptation of infection prevention protocols to improve patient outcomes.