A Clinical Study of Surgical Site Infection in ESICMC, Kalaburgi

Introduction: Surgical Site Infections (SSI) remains a significant problem to be death with following an operation and the third most frequently reported nosocomial infections. SSI costs significantly to increased health care costs in terms of prolonged hospital stay and lost work days and morbidity. Objective: The current study was undertaken to study risk factors that affect incidence of SSI and the common organism isolated and its antibiotic sensitivity and resistance, efficacy of modes of preparation on SSI, distribution of SSI in different surgeries. Material and Methods: The prospective, non-interventional, observational study was carried out on 70 cases of SSI (out of 387 operated patients). Infected samples from patients were collected by following all aseptic precautions and were processed without delay by the standard microbiological techniques. Results and Conclusions: The overall infection rate was 18.86%. The SSI rate increased with increasing age, more in male patients than females and it also increased significantly with the increasing duration of pre-operative hospitalization. The SSI was significantly higher in emergency surgeries as compared to the elective surgeries and the duration of surgeries. The most commonly isolated organism from surgical site infections was beta hemolytic streptococus, followed by staphylococci. Most of the organisms which were isolated were multidrug resistant. The high rate of resistance to many antibiotics underscored the need for a policy that could promote a more rational use of antibiotics.