Reducing surgical site infections post-caesarean section in an Australian hospital, using a bundled care approach

The past 20 years have seen increasing Caesarean section (CS) rates in Australia. Increasing antenatal morbidity means that post-CS surgical site infection (SSI) is an issue impacting Australian women, mostly low-socioeconomic and regional communities. Recent trends supporting development of evidence-based bundled approaches to SSI reduction, have not proved efficacy nor supported bundle implementation.

This pilot study aimed to develop, implement and assess an evidence-based Caesarean Infection Prevention ("CIP") bundled intervention to reduce post-CS SSI rates in a high risk population.

The study was a pre-post-intervention study, including women undergoing CS at one referral hospital between December 1st 2016 and December 31st 2018. A 12 month retrospective pre-intervention review identified women who developed a post-CS SSI. A comprehensive literature review informed the development of the intervention, which was implemented in December 2017. Data was collected for the subsequent 12 months on women undergoing CS.

A total of 710 procedures were monitored with 346 and 364 women in the pre and post-intervention groups respectively. Demographic and comorbidity variables remained consistent over time. Post-CS SSI rates significantly reduced post-intervention (5.5% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.007), the greatest benefit in class II and III obese patients (12.2% vs. 2.5%, p = 0.019). Higher hypertension rates (24% vs. 9%, p = 0.01) and lower maternal mean age (27 vs. 30, p = 0.01) were seen in patients with SSI.

The "CIP" bundle effectively reduced post-CS SSIs in a high risk population. Our findings substantiate the need for development and evaluation of multifaceted, evidenced-based interventions to reduce post-CS SSIs.

Retrospectively registered.

ACTRN12619001001189, July 2019.