Things to know:
1. The study authors assessed 4,818 patients aged 60 years or older who underwent elective orthopedic surgeries at two institutions between January 2014 and September 2017.
2. Within one year postoperatively, 74 patients — 3.64 percent — developed
SSIs. Of all patients, 0.4 percent developed deep infections and 1.1 percent developed superficial infections.
3. Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase‐negative staphylococci were the most common causative pathogens; almost half of S. aureus surgical site infections were caused by methicillin‐resistant staphylococcus aureus.
4. Five risk factors were independently associated with surgical site infection, including:
- Diabetes mellitus
- Morbid obesity
- Tobacco smoking
- Surgical duration greater than the 75th percentile
- Serum albumin level less than 35.0 grams per liter
More articles on orthopedics:
21 spine devices receive FDA 510(k) clearance in January
SeaSpine expands board of directors – 4 insights
Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak projects future spine business growth: 4 key quotes
