Prevalence of surgical site infection in orthopedic surgery: a 5-year analysis

Surgical site infection (SSI) is disastrous in orthopedic practice as it is difficult to rid the bone and joint of the infection. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of SSI in orthopedic practice and to identify risk factors associated with surgical site infections. All patients admitted to the orthopedic male and female wards between January 2006 and December 2011 were included in the study group. The data, which were collected from the medical charts and from the QuadraMed patient filing system, included age, sex, date of admission, type of admission (elective versus emergency), and classification of fractures. Analyses were made to find out the association between infection and risk factors, the χ (2) test was used. The strength of association of the single event with the variables was estimated using Relative Risk, with a 95% confidence interval and P < 0.05. A total of 79 of 3096 patients (2.55%) were included: 60 males and 19 females with the average age of 38.13 ± 19.1 years. Fifty-three patients were admitted directly to the orthopedic wards, 14 were transferred from the surgical intensive care unit, and 12 from other surgical wards. The most common infective organism was Staphylococcus species including Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 23 patients (29.11%); Acinetobacter species, 17 patients (21.5%); Pseudomonas species, 15 patients (18.9%); and Enterococcus species, 14 patients (17.7%). Fifty-two (65.8%) had emergency procedures, and in 57 patients trauma surgery was performed. Three (3.78%) patients died as a result of uncontrolled septicemia. SSI was found to be common in our practice. Emergency surgical procedures carried the greatest risk with Staphylococcus species and Acinetobacter species being the most common infecting organisms. Proper measures need to be undertaken to control infection rates by every available method; antibiotics alone may not be sufficient to win this war.