Surgical wound infection in general surgery

The registration of cases of surgical site infection (SSI) for the period of hospitalization has a bias whose magnitude is not known in our environment. The aim of this study was to measure the incidence of SSI in primary interventions for patients using an ambulatory monitoring system.

We designed a cross-sectional, descriptive study of patients undergoing primary surgery. All patients were assessed at the 2nd, 7th and 21st day after surgery. We used criteria of wound infection according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA. Comparison of variables was performed using χ(2) and Fisher's exact test. Analysis of variables related to the risk of SSI and the control variables was performed using logistic regression.

Of 152 patients (107 males and 45 females), 32 were diagnosed with SSI at 48 h and at 7 and 21 days after surgery, respectively. The type of surgery (emergency), surgical risk according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), duration of surgery, body mass index (BMI) and underlying diseases are predictors of SSI and were statistically significant (p <0.05). Culture was performed in 32 cases and Escherichia coli were isolated in 25%.

In this series of unselected patients, the incidence of SSI reached 21.1% after a 1-month minimum follow-up.