Risk factor evaluation and performance improvement for surgical site infections in patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy at a large academic safety net hospital.

Objective: To identify Surgical Site Infection (SSI) risk factors for abdominal hysterectomy patients and report the results of a performance improvement initiative.

Design: Retrospective case-control.

Setting: Parkland Hospital, an 882-bed academic, safety-net, tertiary referral center and a level 1 trauma center serving a diverse population of primarily uninsured patients in North Texas.

Participants: Patients over 18 who underwent abdominal hysterectomy and were diagnosed with SSIs within 30 days of surgery between 2019 and 2021.

Methods: Cases were matched to controls from the same or closest calendar month in a 1:2 ratio. Chart review of electronic medical records (EMR) was performed comparing variables using Pearson's χ² test for categorical variables and Student's t-test for continuous variables followed by logistic regression for multivariate analysis. Upon identifying vaginal preparation technique as an area of improvement while investigating SSI bundle compliance, we implemented an OR staff training intervention.

Results: Diabetes was identified as a significant risk factor while Hispanic or Latino ethnicity was associated with significantly lower rates of infection. Most organisms identified were enteric pathogens. Following the intervention, Parkland's deep and organ-space Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR) decreased from 1.46 in 2021 to 0.519 for the rolling 12 months as of June 2024.

Conclusions: Our multidisciplinary intervention improving the quality and consistency of pre-operative vaginal preparation was associated with a reduction in abdominal hysterectomy SSI.