Abstract
Objective: We performed surveillance for surgical site infection (SSI) following orthopaedic surgery in our hospital.
Methods: Five hundred sixty three patients underwent orthopaedic surgery in 2007 in our hospital (232 males and 331 females). The mean age at the time of surgery was 61 years (14˜92 yrs). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines combined with our original infection control protocol were applied for all patients. The evaluation of SSI for each case was performed according to the Japanese Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (JNIS) guidelines.
Results: SSI was recognized in 11 cases (1.9%). Limb amputation was the most frequent surgery in SSI cases (5 cases). Six patients from the 11 SSI patients (55%) had MRSA or MRSE infection. No SSIs were seen in those patients who underwent primary TKA or THA for osteoarthritis.
Conclusions: As the causes fininor SSI, dialysis, patients whose serum albumin was under 3.5 mg/dl, and administration of corticosteroids were thought to be significant.
