Intraocular surgical site infection surveillance in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Surveillance for surgical site infections (SSIs) after intraocular surgery may enable the detection of outbreaks and reveal opportunities for quality improvement. The reported incidence of SSIs after intraocular surgery varies widely, and there are no benchmark studies for SSI surveillance based on surveillance case definitions. We performed surveillance for SSIs after intraocular surgery at a regional ophthalmology surgical center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from April 2014 to March 2023. Intraocular infection was defined according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Healthcare Safety Network definition (eye infection, other than conjunctivitis). We defined an SSI as an intraocular infection occurring within 1 year after intraocular surgery, in contrast with the CDC definition of 30 or 90 days for other types of surgery. There were 96,322 intraocular operations performed during the 9-year surveillance period. The incidence of SSI for all types of intraocular surgery was 0.03% (3.0 infections per 10,000 operations), with substantially greater incidence after glaucoma valve implant surgery. We found that the incidence of SSI, identified using surveillance definitions, is lower than reported previously. This report provides benchmark data that may be useful for ophthalmological SSI surveillance initiatives at other institutions.