[Infection register at a surgical department in Hungary]

Area of Science:

• Infection Control
• Epidemiology
• Surgical Outcomes

Background:

• Surgical site infections (SSIs) pose a significant risk to patient outcomes.
• Effective surveillance systems are crucial for monitoring and reducing SSIs.
• International and national infection surveillance efforts have evolved over recent decades.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a 20-year infection register of surgical site infections.
• To evaluate the trends in SSI rates over two decades.
• To assess the effectiveness of a prospective registration method for SSI prevention.

Main Methods:

• A prospective infection register was maintained for 905 surgical site infections following 33,426 operative interventions.
• Data were collected and analyzed over a 20-year period (1977-1996), divided into two 10-year intervals.
• Infection rates were categorized (A, B, C, D) and analyzed for superficial, deep, and regional infections.

Main Results:

• Overall SSI rates showed slight, non-significant increases in superficial categories (A, B) between the two decades.
• Significant decreases in deep (C) and regional (D) infection rates were observed in the second decade (1986-1996).
• The study's SSI rates were lower than those reported in Hungarian HELICS study (1995) and recommendations from the Advisory Board of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (1994).

Conclusions:

• The prospective registration method, while less complex, proved effective in preventing surgical infections.
• The observed decrease in deep and regional infections suggests the surveillance method's positive impact.
• This method can serve as an effective alternative for SSI prevention until broader adoption of multicentric surveillance systems like HELICS.