Postdischarge surgical site infection surveillance

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Infectious Disease Surveillance
• Surgical Outcomes

Background:

• Post-discharge surveillance is crucial for identifying surgical site infections (SSIs).
• Various methods exist for SSI surveillance, each with unique advantages and disadvantages.
• Optimizing surveillance methods can improve patient safety and resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficiency and reliability of three post-discharge surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance methods.
• To determine the most effective method for identifying SSIs in patients after surgery.

Main Methods:

• Prospective randomized trial involving 1200 patients (in-patients and day-patients).
• Three surveillance groups: mailed patient questionnaires, surgeon follow-up cards, and telephoned patient questionnaires by an infection control practitioner (ICP).
• Evaluation of SSIs conducted 30 days postoperatively.

Main Results:

• Surgeon follow-up cards yielded higher return rates (58.1% for in-patients, 72.1% for day-patients) compared to mailed questionnaires (29.2% for in-patients, 15.2% for day-patients).
• Telephoned questionnaires by ICPs had the highest reach rate (95.4% for in-patients, 84.9% for day-patients) but were time-intensive.
• Surgeon cards required no ICP time for distribution and were associated with professional wound evaluation.

Conclusions:

• Surgeon follow-up cards represent the most efficient and reliable method for post-discharge SSI surveillance in this setting.
• This method ensures timely wound evaluation by trained professionals using standardized criteria.
• The findings support the adoption of surgeon follow-up cards for improved SSI detection and patient care.