Researchers studied whether an association exists between the preoperative presence of asymptomatic bacteriuria or urinary tract infection and surgical site infection among patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.
They published their findings in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The research team conducted an analytical study with a retrospective cohort of patients undergoing coronary revascularization or valve replacement surgery. They identified and examined cases of bacteriuria, UTI and cardiovascular SSI.
They found of the 840 patients included in the study, 3.9 percent had asymptomatic bacteriuria and 1.5 percent had UTIs. The incidence of SSI was 9.5 percent, with 2.3 percent of cases having mediastinitis.
A multivariate analysis showed asymptomatic bacteriuria and UTI were not risk factors for SSI.