A Study on Factors Affecting Post Operative Wound Infection

Corresponding author: Dr Rubina Malhotra, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, GGSMC, Faridkot. Email id: [email protected] This article may be cited as : Malhotra R, Walia G. A Study on factors affecting post operative wound infection. Int J Com Health and Med Res 2015;1(1):17-21 Article Recieved 9-11-15 Accepted On: 11-12-2015 NTRODUCTION A wound is the disruption in the continuity of soft parts of the body structure. 1 Post operative wound infection is an infection in the tissues of the incision and operative area which can occur from 1 day to many years after an operation. 2 Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the third most commonly reported nosocomial infections and account for approximately a quarter of all hospital acquired infections. 3 Factors which increase an individual’s risk to post operative wound infections include malnutrition, lengthy preoperative stay, diabetes, use of steroids and poor skin preparation. Additionally, conditions surrounding the surgery may account for added risk like length of surgery, wound site contamination, infection among the surgical staff and instrument contamination. 2 Thus, present study was undertaken to assess the various I Background: Post-operative wound infection is an infection in the tissues of the incision and operative area. Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) have been responsible for the increasing cost, morbidity and mortality related to surgical operations and continue to be a major problem even in hospitals with most modern facilities and standard protocols of preoperative preparation and antibiotic prophylaxis. Aim: To study factors associated with post operative wound infections. Materials and Methods: 100 cases of post operative wound infections with different age group from several wards of Rajindra hospital, Patiala were studied. Detailed history from the patient including the risk factors associated with the wound was taken after obtaining informed written consent of the patient. Results: Out of the total of 100 cases, only 27 developed wound infection postoperatively giving an infection rate of 27%.The infection rate was maximum in the age group of 60-69 years i.e.60% and minimum in the age group of 20-29 years i.e.22.7%. The percentage of wound infection increased with the duration of operation. It was found that the infection rate was slightly higher in emergency surgeries (34.8%) as compared to elective ones (11.8%) with highest rate in case of abdominal laparotomy cases (39.3%) followed by appendicectomy and was more in drained wounds (34.3%) as compared to non drained ones(15.2%).Conclusion: The advances in the operative techniques and a better understanding on the pathogenesis of the wound infections, post-operative wound infections are still a major source of morbidity and mortality for the patients who undergo operative procedures.