A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed surgical site infections as the most common healthcare-associated infection, accounting for 31 percent of all HAIs among hospitalized patients.
"The prevention of SSIs is of critical importance and can only be achieved through implementation of an consistent and rigid adherence to infection prevention standards," a report in the May issue of AORN Journal reads, and those standards must address all potential risk factors for developing SSIs.
According to the report, risk factors for SSIs fall into three main categories:
1. Patient characteristics, like age, obesity, malnutrition or diabetes
2. Surgery and surgeon characteristics, like the wound classification, length of procedure, skill of the surgeon, appropriate use of antibiotic prophylaxis and maintenance of normothermia throughout the perioperative experience
3. The operating room environment, including cleanliness, temperature and humidity levels and ventilation