Surgical Site Infection Following Surgery for Spine Trauma

Background/Objectives: Traumatic spinal fractures are common injuries, and a proportion of these cases require surgical stabilization using various operative systems. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiology of surgical site infections (SSIs) following exclusively trauma-related spinal surgery and to identify potential risk factors for their occurrence, as there is a lack of studies focusing on non-elective trauma-related spinal surgeries and SSI in the literature. Methods: This retrospective single-center analysis examined 710 patients with traumatic spinal injuries treated surgically between 2012 and 2022 at the Level I Trauma Center at the Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery of the University Hospital Wiener Neustadt, Austria. To investigate SSI risk factors, comparative statistical analyses and logistic regression were used, with a level of statistical significance of α = 0.05. Results: In total, 28 cases (with an incidence of 3.94%) developed SSI, and these cases were characterized by a significantly higher body weight/BMI, longer operative times, and more stabilized segments and implanted hardware. They were also more likely to have undergone open surgery, laminectomy in combination with dorsal stabilization, intensive care treatment, or to present with neurological deficits or ankylosing spondylitis. SSIs occurred most frequently in the thoracolumbar and cervicothoracic junctions, and were predominantly caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Cutibacterium acnes. As independent risk factors, a higher BMI (OR = 1.188) and the use of cross-connectors (OR = 4.948) were identified, whereas other initially significant variables did not remain significant after adjustment. Conclusions: There are surgery-related and potentially modifiable variables and non-modifiable patient-related risk factors for the occurrence of SSI. Patients with SSIs stayed an average of 25.3 days in hospital and had a mortality rate of 17.9%.