A prospective study of surgical site infections in a teaching hospital in Goa

Surgical Site Infections contribute significantly to increased health care costs in terms of prolonged hospital stay and lost work days. The problem was largely unexplored in an apex medical institute in Goa.

To estimate the incidence, and study the bacteriology and the factors associated with SSI in the study setting.

Prospective study in the surgical wards of an apex medical teaching hospital in Goa.

Clinico-bacterilogical follow-up of 114 post-operative cases to the development of SSI, as per the CDC criteria (1991). Incidence was expressed as the infection rate per 100 operations. Antibiotic sensitivity testing was done using the disc diffusion method.

Association was tested by applying the Student t-test and the Chi-square test of significance, and the strength of association expressed as the Odd's Ratio.

The overall SSI rate was estimated to be 30.7%; 5.4% for clean, 35.5% for clean-contaminated, and 77.8% for contaminated operations. Seventy-nine per cent of the isolates were gram-negative and almost 64% demonstrated polyantimicrobial resistance.

The study emphasizes the need for the evidence-based infection control and antibiotic prescription policies in the hospital.