Surgical Site Infection Prevention

Abstract Surgical site infection (SSI) is a healthcare-associated infection where wound infection occurs after an invasive surgical procedure. It may vary from a spontaneously limited wound discharge occurring within 7—days of the operative procedure to a life-threatening postoperative complication like septicemia or endotoxic shock. Although SSI rates vary between countries and geographical regions, they represent an important problem, with a significantly higher burden in developing countries.  Many factors starting from preoperative work-up and lasting beyond discharge of the patient from the hospital have been identified as contributing to the risk of SSI. Therefore, the prevention of these infections is complex and requires the integration of a range of preventive measures in the pre-, intra- and postoperative phases of care. The financial consequences of SSI are substantial.  Strategies to decrease SSI are multimodal and ensuring high compliance with these risk-reduction strategies is crucial to the success of SSI reduction efforts. Keywords: Surgical site infection; Disinfection; Surgical scrub; Antibiotic prophylaxis