Rate of Surgical Site Infection in Elective Surgical Procedures
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Background: Surgical site infections remain an important postoperative complication, particularly where surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship are inconsistent. Objective: To determine the occurrence of surgical site infection following selected elective surgical procedures in participating surgical services in Balochistan and describe associated microbiology, hospitalization, and antimicrobial prophylaxis. Methods: This multicentre retrospective observational study analysed adults undergoing elective gastrointestinal, biliary, pancreatic, urogenital, abdominal hernia, or gynaecological procedures. Data were collected using standardized case report forms and analysed using SPSS version 22.0. Results: Among 858 analysed patients, mean age was 38.8±13.1 years and 71.0% were women. SSI occurred in 56 patients (6.5%; 95% CI 5.1%–8.4%). Cultures were positive in 47/56 cases (83.9%), predominantly for Staphylococcus aureus (21/56, 37.5%) and Escherichia coli (17/56, 30.4%). Mean hospital stay was 8.3±10.3 days in patients with SSI versus 3.3±2.9 days without SSI, with a mean difference of 5.00 days (95% CI 2.24–7.76; p<0.001). Nineteen SSI patients (33.9%) required rehospitalization. Antibiotics were continued postoperatively in 94.0% of the overall cohort. Conclusion: SSI affected approximately one in fifteen analysed elective surgical patients and was associated with substantially longer hospitalization. Local surveillance, microbiological monitoring, infection-prevention practices, and antimicrobial stewardship remain important priorities
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