[Measures against surgical site infections in orthopaedic surgery]

Orthopaedic surgery has low healthcare-associated infection incidences compared to other surgical disciplines. However, whenever they occur, these infections are associated with substantial morbidity, prolonged hospital stay, high costs, and difficulties of eradication with life-long recurrence risks. Among the many measures to prevent orthopaedic surgical site infections, only few are based on strong evidence, and there is insufficient evidence to ascertain which element is superior to any other. This highlights the need for multimodal approaches involving active post-discharge surveillance, as well as measures at every step of the care process; from the individual patient to department-wide interventions targeting all infections, and including antibiotic stewardship.