Surgical site infection at the Kisangani university clinics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Background and Objectives: Surgical Site Infection (SSI) is conventionally defined as an infection of the incision, cavities or organs involved in a surgical procedure within 30 days of the surgical procedure, or within one year in the case of implanted equipment. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of SSI at the University Clinics of Kisangani (CUKIS), to identify the germs responsible and to determine their sensitivity to the antibiotics currently used.Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study with retrospective data collection, carried out in the Department of Surgery at CUKIS from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2023. The target population consisted of all patients who had undergone full post-operative follow-up. Data were collected using Excel 2021, then exported to R version 4.4.0. Frequency and mean were calculated.Results: The prevalence of SSI was 15.8%. The mean time between surgery and the occurrence of SSI was 9.7 days, with a standard deviation of 6.1. Pus swabs were taken from 30 patients, yielding 9 isolates, of which Staphylococcus aureus was the most isolated and most sensitive to beta-lactam antibiotics.Conclusion: SSIs are a public health problem. Certain germs are responsible for them. Knowledge of these germs and their susceptibility to antibiotics can help practitioners to take appropriate action in the event of an SSI.