A study, published in JAMA Surgery, examined risk factors for surgical site infections among colon cancer patients. Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School researchers conducted the retrospective cohort study.
Researchers studied 1,481 patients who underwent colon cancer surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, from 2004 through 2014. Of the patients, 90 developed SSIs.
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SSI rates were significantly higher among the following:
• People who smoked (7.4 percent versus 4.8 percent among non-smokers)
• People who abused alcohol (10.6 percent versus 5.7 percent among non-alcoholics)
• People with type 2 diabetics (8.8 percent versus 5.5 percent among people without type 2 diabetes)
• Obese patients (11.7 percent versus 4 percent among non-obese people)
• Patients with an operation duration longer than 140 minutes (7.5 percent versus 5 percent among people with shorter operation times)
• Patients who underwent nonlaparoscopic approaches (6.7 percent versus 4.1 percent among laparoscopic approach patients)