Abstract: Aim: To study the incidence of surgical site infections and the toll it takes on
Materials and Methods: Individuals above 18 years of age, underwent surgeries at Arupadai veedu Medical College, Pondicherry, between July 2017 – July 2019.
Sample Size: 100 Patients e third day, twelveth day, at the end of three months and six months.
Inclusion criteria
• Patients aged 18 years and above.
• Patients taken up for elective surgeries (major or minor procedures).
Exclusion criteria
• Immunocompromised patients.
• Patients on long term cortico-steroids and immunosuppressive treatment.
• Patients with open fractures.
Antibiotic selection: Third generation Cephalosporin i.e; Ceftriaxone and Ceftriaxone+Sulbactam. were used for all the patient.
Pre operative preparation: All patients received Injection Ceftriaxone 1.5 gm intravenously the day of the surgery.
Post operative care: Injection Ceftriaxone was continued in the post operative period. The wound was inspected for any evidence of infection starting from the 3rd day and then 12th postoperative day. Patients were followed up till discharge. For the patient who satisfied any of the criteria for wound infection, wound swab was sent to the clinical microbiology laboratory for routine culture methods and repeat CRP and ESR was done.
Results: Of the 100 patients in this study, the overall incidence in the study is 4%, which compares favorably with studies of Marston et al. who reported 5% superficial and 0.25% deep infection in 413 replacements in ideal circumstances. Significant correlation was noted between antibiotic administration and timing of surgery similar to guidelines stipulated by Woods RK, Dellinger EP.
Conclusion:
1.This study did not show any statistically significant correlation between age, scrub time, spirit used with respect to incidence of infection.
2.The incidence of infection by gram +ve bacteria was higher than that of gram +ve bacteria.
3.Antimicrobial use is widespread and inconsistent with published guidelines.
4.Pathogens isolated are often resistant to commonly used antimicrobials.
5.The actual incidence of infection could be significantly higher than that showed by the study as the patients were only followed up at 3 months, after being discharged from hospital and not in between.
