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Multicenter Study
. 2023 Jun;51(6):607-611.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.09.022. Epub 2022 Sep 23.

Surgical site infections during the COVID-19 era: A retrospective, multicenter analysis

Bradford B Smith  1 , Wendelyn Bosch  2 , John C O'Horo  3 , Marlene E Girardo  4 , Patrick B Bolton  5 , Andrew W Murray  5 , Ingrid L Hirte  6 , Kai Singbartl  7 , David P Martin  8
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Surgical site infections during the COVID-19 era: A retrospective, multicenter analysis

Bradford B Smith et al. Am J Infect Control. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are an undesired perioperative outcome. Recent studies have shown increases in hospital acquired infections during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The objective of this study was to evaluate postoperative SSIs in the COVID-19-era compared to a historical cohort at a large, multicenter, academic institution.

Methods: A retrospective review of all patients who underwent National Health and Safety Network (NHSN) inpatient surgical procedures between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020. Patients from the COVID-19-era (March-December 2020) were compared and matched 1:1 with historical controls (2018/2019) utilizing the standardized infection ratio (SIR) to detect difference.

Results/discussion: During the study period, 29,904 patients underwent NHSN procedures at our institution. When patients from the matched cohort (2018/2019) were compared to the COVID-19-era cohort (2020), a decreased risk of SSI was observed following colorectal surgery (RR = 0.94, 95% CI [0.65, 1.37], P = .76), hysterectomy (RR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.39, 1.99], P = .75), and knee prothesis surgery (RR = 0.95, 95% CI [0.52, 1.74], P = .88), though not statistically significant. An increased risk of SSI was observed following hip prosthesis surgery (RR 1.09, 95% CI [0.68, 1.75], P = .72), though not statistically significant.

Conclusions: The risk of SSI in patients who underwent NHSN inpatient surgical procedures in 2020 with perioperative COVID-19 precautions was not significantly different when compared to matched controls at our large, multicenter, academic institution.

Keywords: Healthcare-associated infections; National healthcare safety network; Perioperative; SARS-CoV-2.

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