Prevention of orthopaedic infection in spine surgery

Surgical infections in spine surgery is a complication that can delay wound-healing and recovery, add impairments and increase the morbidity, the mortality and the overall financial constraints, Although the prophylaxis against infections has recently improved, the incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) varies from 0,7% to 16%. According to clinical studies, the postoperative wound-infections are the third most commonly hospital infections after pneumonia and urinary tract infection. The infection rate varies according to the relevant published literature, and risk factors are classified as: 1) patient-related factors and 2) procedure-related factors. The latter is further divided into: i) pre-operative, ii) intra-operative and iii) post-operative risk factors. The successful prevention of SSI is inevitably bound up coping with these risk-factors, as up to 60 % as SSIs are preventable by using evidence-based guidelines.