Collecting Site-Level Data on Organisms Causing Surgical Site Infections to Guide Quality Improvement

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Surgical Outcomes
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Surgical site infections (SSIs) pose significant risks to patients and healthcare systems.
• Understanding the specific pathogens and contributing factors is crucial for effective prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the types of organisms causing organ/space SSIs after abdominal surgery.
• To determine common patient- and care-related factors associated with SSIs in rural populations.
• To provide baseline data for targeted SSI prevention efforts.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, correlational study was conducted at two rural Midwestern hospitals.
• Data were collected on 20 cases of organ/space SSIs within 30 days of abdominal surgery (open or laparoscopic).
• Analysis focused on identifying causative organisms and associated patient and care factors.

Main Results:

• Escherichia coli was identified as the causative organism in 45% (n=9) of the studied SSIs.
• Common patient factors included ethnicity, smoking, and wound contamination.
• Frequent care-related factors involved longer surgical times (>60 minutes), unplanned procedures, and involvement of the colon or small bowel.

Conclusions:

• Escherichia coli is a primary pathogen in SSIs following abdominal surgery in this rural cohort.
• Patient and surgical factors like smoking, wound contamination, and procedure length are associated with increased SSI risk.
• Site-specific data on prevalent organisms and risk factors can inform evidence-based, interdisciplinary approaches to enhance SSI prevention.