Infection Risk Following Contaminated Cases

Controversy exists whether one can perform a clean case subsequent to a dirty case in the same operating room predisposed to infection. A retrospective review of all orthopaedic surgical patients between 2003 and 2010 with a type I surgical wound whose case had been performed immediately after type a IV wound was undertaken. Six hundred seventy-four pairs of type IV wounds immediately followed by type I wounds were identified. Of the type I wounds, 3.3% subsequently developed surgical site infection. The bacterial profile of the infections in type I cases was not identical to the associated type IV cases in any instance. This finding suggests that direct cross-contamination is not a reason for infection in clean cases that are performed immediately subsequent to dirty cases. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 34(1):026-030, 2025).