The Incidence and Risk Factors of Surgical Wound Infection after Clean Spinal Surgeries: a Prospective Cohort Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Professor of Nero Surgery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
Introduction & Objective: Post-operative surgical site wound infection (SSWI) is one of the most common complications after spine surgeries. To detect the risk factors for such a complication, studies with large numbers of patients and high quality data-gathering and analysis are required. Materials & Methods: In this study, we prospectively included 987 patients who underwent operation for different pathologies over a three-year period (2010-2013). Results: Among these patients, 27 (2.7%) developed infection in the post-operative period. Multi-variant analysis indicated the factors associated with increased risk of post-operative infection as: trauma as the main etiology of damage in trauma cases, past-history of diabetes and smoking, patients being bed ridden in the peri-operative period, blood sugar levels above 120 mg/dl during the treatment period, increased length of incision, and increased hospital stay. Conclusions: Considering the preventable nature of most of the causes, it seems possible to reduce the chance of infection by controlling these factors.

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