Microbiological Profile and Outcome of Surgical Site Infections Following Orthopedic Surgeries in a Tertiary Care...

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the most common adverse events that occur in hospitalized patients undergoing surgical procedures or in outpatient surgical measures, regardless of the advances in preventive procedures. SSI may lead to disastrous consequences in orthopedic practice as it may involve the joints and bones and is extremely difficult to get rid of the infection. The present study was designed to evaluate the rates, risk factors, microbiological profiles, and outcomes of SSIs following orthopedic procedures in patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India during the study period of September 2022 to March 2024. A total of 1327 patients who underwent orthopedic surgeries were followed up for the development of SSI, among whom 105 (7.9%) developed SSI, making an incidence rate of 7.9%. The incidence of SSI in different surgeries was 9.5% (34/359) in closed reduction with fixation, 8.5% (65/766) in open reduction with internal fixation, 4.4% (3/69) in hip arthroplasty, and 2.3% (3/133) in knee arthroplasty. Maximum (27.6%) patients having SSI were of the age group of 20-29 years, and 87.62% were males. The habit of smoking was found to be highly statistically significant. The common gram-positive organisms isolated were Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus species, which were mostly sensitive to vancomycin, linezolid, teicoplanin, and tigecycline. The common gram-negative organisms isolated were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas species, Escherichia coli, and Acinetobacter species, many of which were multidrug-resistant organisms and were sensitive to amikacin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, and ceftriaxone.