Surgical duration as a factor in postoperative infection rates in orthopedic procedures

Postoperative infection rates have been reported to be extremely sensitive to the surgical duration, particularly for orthopedic procedures that often require more extensive time and therefore increased exposure to infectious agents. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the surgical time and infection rate postoperative for 100 patients who had different orthopedic procedures performed. Surgical duration, infection rate and predisposing factors of infection were explored to determine limits where infection is likely to rise. Results suggest that long surgical time is highly significantly related to an increased rate of postoperative infection therefore, efforts to make the operative time optimal are relevant. These findings have enlightened the necessity for optimizing surgical time to enhance orthopedic patient outcomes.