Surgical Site Infections in Colon Surgery

Results: A total of 428 SSIs (17.9%) were identified, with hospital rates varying from 4.0% to 25.2% and individual surgeon rates varying from 3.7% to 36.1%. Features of the patients and procedures associated with SSI in univariate analyses were male sex, age, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, contamination class, operation duration, and emergency procedure. Correctly timed antibiotic prophylaxis and laparoscopic approach were protective. Multivariate analyses adjusting for these features and for the hospitals found 4 surgeons with higher risk of SSI (odds ratio [OR]=2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.51-3.70; OR=2.19, 95% CI, 1.41-3.39; OR=2.15, 95% CI, 1.02-4.53; and OR=1.97, 95% CI, 1.183.30) and 2 surgeons with lower risk of SSI (OR=0.43, 95% CI, 0.19-0.94; and OR=0.19, 95% CI, 0.04-0.81). No correlation was found between surgeons’ individual adjusted risks and their adherence to guidelines or their experience.