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Seasonal Variation of Common Surgical Site Infections: Does Season Matter?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Durkin, MJ; Dicks, KV; Baker, AW; Lewis, SS; Moehring, RW; Chen, LF; Sexton, DJ; Anderson, DJ
Published in: Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol
September 2015

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate seasonal variation in the rate of surgical site infections (SSI) following commonly performed surgical procedures. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: We analyzed 6 years (January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2012) of data from the 15 most commonly performed procedures in 20 hospitals in the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network. We defined summer as July through September. First, we performed 3 separate Poisson regression analyses (unadjusted, multivariable, and polynomial) to estimate prevalence rates and prevalence rate ratios of SSI following procedures performed in summer versus nonsummer months. Then, we stratified our results to obtain estimates based on procedure type and organism type. Finally, we performed a sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of our findings. RESULTS: We identified 4,543 SSI following 441,428 surgical procedures (overall prevalence rate, 1.03/100 procedures). The rate of SSI was significantly higher during the summer compared with the remainder of the year (1.11/100 procedures vs 1.00/100 procedures; prevalence rate ratio, 1.11 [95% CI, 1.04-1.19]; P=.002). Stratum-specific SSI calculations revealed higher SSI rates during the summer for both spinal (P=.03) and nonspinal (P=.004) procedures and revealed higher rates during the summer for SSI due to either gram-positive cocci (P=.006) or gram-negative bacilli (P=.004). Multivariable regression analysis and sensitivity analyses confirmed our findings. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of SSI following commonly performed surgical procedures was higher during the summer compared with the remainder of the year. Summer SSI rates remained elevated after stratification by organism and spinal versus nonspinal surgery, and rates did not change after controlling for other known SSI risk factors.

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Published In

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol

DOI

EISSN

1559-6834

Publication Date

September 2015

Volume

36

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1011 / 1016

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surgical Wound Infection
  • Spine
  • Southeastern United States
  • Seasons
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Prevalence
  • Humans
  • Gram-Positive Cocci
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections
 

Citation

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Durkin, M. J., Dicks, K. V., Baker, A. W., Lewis, S. S., Moehring, R. W., Chen, L. F., … Anderson, D. J. (2015). Seasonal Variation of Common Surgical Site Infections: Does Season Matter? Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol, 36(9), 1011–1016. https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2015.121
Durkin, Michael J., Kristen V. Dicks, Arthur W. Baker, Sarah S. Lewis, Rebekah W. Moehring, Luke F. Chen, Daniel J. Sexton, and Deverick J. Anderson. “Seasonal Variation of Common Surgical Site Infections: Does Season Matter?Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 36, no. 9 (September 2015): 1011–16. https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2015.121.
Durkin MJ, Dicks KV, Baker AW, Lewis SS, Moehring RW, Chen LF, et al. Seasonal Variation of Common Surgical Site Infections: Does Season Matter? Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2015 Sep;36(9):1011–6.
Durkin, Michael J., et al. “Seasonal Variation of Common Surgical Site Infections: Does Season Matter?Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol, vol. 36, no. 9, Sept. 2015, pp. 1011–16. Pubmed, doi:10.1017/ice.2015.121.
Durkin MJ, Dicks KV, Baker AW, Lewis SS, Moehring RW, Chen LF, Sexton DJ, Anderson DJ. Seasonal Variation of Common Surgical Site Infections: Does Season Matter? Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2015 Sep;36(9):1011–1016.
Journal cover image

Published In

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol

DOI

EISSN

1559-6834

Publication Date

September 2015

Volume

36

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1011 / 1016

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surgical Wound Infection
  • Spine
  • Southeastern United States
  • Seasons
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Prevalence
  • Humans
  • Gram-Positive Cocci
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections