Prevalence of surgical wound infections following orthopedic surgery at Erciyes University Hospital

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of surgical site infections (SSIs) after orthopedic surgery at Erciyes University hospital and to identify associated risk factors, predominant infecting organisms and mortality rates. Patients ad Methods: A week prevalence study was carried out between December 2Ist and December 27th, 2003. Center for Disease Control criteria were used prospectively to identify cases of SSJ in patients who underwent orthopedic surgery. All patients were followed for a fur weeks postoperatively and all SSIs were recorded. The complete medical records of each case were reviewed, and data on 12 possible risk factors were extracted. Statistical analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for SSls. Results: A total of eight postoperative SSIs were identified among 60 cases included in the study, with a resulting overall infection rate of)3.3%. Infection was limited to soft tissue in all cases. The risk of SSI was increased by the duration cif preoperative hospitalization (odds ratio TOR], 1.261; 95% confidence interval [CIT 1.100-1.445; p=0.001) and duration of antimicrobial prophylaxis (OR, 1.197; 95% CI, 1.053-1.360; p-0.01). The predominantly isolated microorganisms in patients with SSA were Staphylococcus aureus (36.4%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (27.3%). Conclusion: In orthopedic surgery longer duration of preoperative hospitalization and antimicrobial prophylaxis were independently associated with SSI after orthopedic surgery Identification of the risk factors for SSIs will contribute to improve patient care and may decrease mortality and morbidity of orthopedic surgery patients.