Patient and operation characteristics that may influence the risk of surgical site infection development

Patient

Age

Nutritional status

Diabetes

Smoking

Obesity

Coexistent infections at a remote body site

Colonization with microorganisms

Altered immune response

Length of preoperative stay

Operation

Duration of surgical scrub

Skin antisepsis

Preoperative shaving

Preoperative skin prep

Duration of operation

Antimicrobial prophylaxis

Operating room ventilation

Inadequate sterilization of instruments

Foreign material in the surgical site

Surgical drains

Surgical technique

- Poor hemostasis

- Failure to obliterate dead space

- Tissue trauma

Data from:

SHEA, APIC, CDC, SIS. Consensus paper on the surveillance of surgical wound infections. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1992; 13:599.
Cruse PJ. Surgical wound infection. In: Infectious Diseases, Wonsiewicz MJ (Ed), WB Saunders Co, Philadelphia 1992. p.758.

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