[Surgical wound infection in urological patients. a four-year review]

Surgical site infection (SSI) is a constant concern for health care professionals.

To ascertain the accumulated incidence (CI) rates of SSI, overall and by surgical procedure, at our department of urology, and to find areas for improvement.

A retrospective and analytical study was conducted (January 2004/December 2007) of 91 patients. Variables examined included age, sex, mean hospital stay, diagnosis, surgical procedure, infection site, organism, and department and hospital rates. Procedures performed in more than 2 patients were analyzed. Patients with SSI caused by an infectious condition were excluded. A descriptive statistical analysis, comparison of percentages, Chi-square test were performed as appropriate.

Eighty-five males and 6 females with a mean age of 64.3+/-13.6 years were analyzed. The AI rate for the department was 1.99%, lower than for the rest of the hospital. Mean hospital stay was 22.4+/-17.9 days. According to the CDC criteria, there were 56 superficial (61.5%), 10 deep (10.9%) and 25 organ/space (27.4%) infections. Cultures were performed in 54infections (59.4%, lower than the hospital rate). Fifty percent of cultures were positive. Very high rates were found in cystectomy (25, 26.04%), adenomectomy (21, 16.00%) and urethroplasty (4; 10.26%), while the rates found for other procedures were lower than reported in the literature.

Our overall SSI rates were similar to those of other urology departments and lower than the hospital rate. SSI rates in adenomectomy were very high and a study should be conducted to find areas for improvement. SSI rates in cystectomy were also very high, in agreement with previous reports, and must also be improved, as well as the percentage of wound cultures.