Occurrence, associated risk factors, and treatment of surgical site infections in Pakistan

Globally, surgical site infections are one of the common infections which lead to a large amount of mortality and morbidity in postsurgical care. The risk for surgical site infection is multidimensional which includes mainly; patient, surgery, and hospital-related factors. This study is aimed to determine the burden of SSIs along with contributed risk factors. A prospective observational cross-sectional study was conducted in one of the largest public-sector hospitals in Pakistan. A total of 412 patients were recruited in the study with full consent and monitored for 30 days after surgery with direct and indirect surveillance. Overall, in seven different surgical procedures the incidence (29.8%) rate of SSI was observed; in appendectomy ( n = 17, 4.1%), exploratory laparotomy ( n = 51, 12.6%), laparoscopic cholecystectomy ( n = 12, 2.90%), mesh repair ( n = 17, 4.01%), thyroidectomy (5, 1.2%), transurethral resection of the prostate ( n = 11, 2.6%), and transurethral resection of the bladder (10, 2.4%). The average SSI rate in every single procedure was about 18 (4.27%) per surgical procedure out of 123 (29.85%) SSI cases. Types of SSI identified were superficial, deep incisional and organ/space ( n = 76, 18.4%, n = 23, 5.5%, and n = 24, 5.7%). Incidence of SSIs during admission, at readmission, and post-surveillance cases were ( n = 50, 12.1%, n = 25, 6.0% and n = 48, 11.6%). Associated risk factors found contributed to the incidence of SSI ( p < 0.05). Pre-operative ( n = 348, 84.5%) and 6 (1.5%) surgical patients did not received the post-operative antibiotics. The P. aeruginosa ( n = 15, 12.1%) and S. aureus (13, 10.5%). Cefoperazone and sulbactam were the most prescribed antibiotics. Associated risk factors and treatment outcomes of surgical patients have a direct association with the incidence of SSI. Hospital-based antimicrobial stewardship, implementation of surgical guidelines, patient care, and education are needed to develop at wards level in hospitals.