A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control assessed the rate of surgical site infection after spinal surgery.
The study comprised 1,764 patients who were treated for spinal trauma or degenerative spinal diseases between February 2015 and February 2016. Patients were evaluated one year postoperatively.
Here are five findings:
1. Of the 1,764 patients, 50 developed surgical site infections. In total, 1.1 percent had deep surgical site infections and 2.2 percent had superficial surgical site infections.
2. Of the patients who suffered surgical site infections, 60.6 percent of infections had a polymicrobial cause.
3. The majority of the infections — 51 out of 58 — occurred during hospitalization, with the median occurrence time being three days postoperatively.
4. Surgical site infections prolonged hospital stays by 9.3 days on overage.
5. Authors found eight risk factors for surgical site infection: higher BMI, cervical surgical site, posterior surgical approach, surgery performed in the summer, degenerative disc disease surgery, autograft for fusion and fixation and higher preoperative platelet level.