Surgical site infection

Did You Know?

• Common symptoms include redness, pain, cloudy or purulent drainage from the wound, and fever.
• Frequently identified pathogens include Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, Enterococcus faecalis, and Escherichia coli.
• SSIs contribute to over 2 million healthcare-associated infections annually in the United States alone.

Types

Surgical site infections can occur in the skin, deeper tissues, or internal organs, and may involve implanted material like a hip replacement. The CDC sorts these infections into three groups. Superficial incisional infections are limited to the incision's outer skin layer. Deep incisional infections reach muscles and connective tissue underneath. Organ or space infections affect internal areas involved in the surgery, such as an organ or cavity.

Studies

Research on SSIs has been conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Research Health Unit on Global Surgery and GlobalSurg Collaborative. Low-income countries have a disproportionately greater burden of SSIs, with four times the burden in children, and higher rates of antibiotic resistance. A 2024 study involving 210 adult patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery found that 14 patients (6.8%) developed SSIs. Genomic analysis of preoperative patient microbiomes and postoperative SSI samples showed that 86% of SSI samples were similar to bacterial strains found on the patients' skin before surgery. Further analysis of 59 additional SSIs in the same hospital revealed no common bacterial strains, indicating the infections were not linked to external hospital sources.