Surgical site infection: A comparison of multispecialty and single specialty outpatient facilities

Reoperation secondary to surgical site infections can be a devastating complication in orthopaedic surgery. Infection rates in the ambulatory setting have been reported to be lower than those cited in a hospital setting. However, a direct comparative analysis of infection rates of orthopaedic procedures performed in a single specialty ambulatory surgical center (ASC) versus a multi-specialty ASC has, to our knowledge, not been performed.

Four surgeons performed more than 10,000 orthopaedic surgeries in a multispecialty and single specialty ambulatory setting over 8 years. These procedures were reviewed for postoperative deep infection within one year of initial operation.

The post-surgical deep infection rate in a multi-specialty ASC was 0.81% in 2867 operations compared with a rate of 0.38% in 7311 operations performed in a single specialty ASC (p = 0.007).

This study demonstrated that the rate of infection leading to reoperation was significantly lower in a single specialty ambulatory surgery setting as opposed to one accommodating multiple specialties.