Infection Risk From Spinal Surgery Increased with Preoperative Delays

A study in the July 1 issue of Spine finds that preoperative delays in excess of one hour significantly increase the risk of surgical site infections. 

 

The study tracked more than 9,200 patients over four years who had undergone spinal surgery at a single institution. 

 

Researchers found that the group of patients with confirmed surgical site infections had a significantly greater mean preoperative time than did the group without SSIs. Additionally, the risk of an SSI was 4.9 percent with greater than one hour of preoperative time, compared to 2.3 percent with less than one hour of preoperative time. 

 

The study suggested that the increased risk of SSIs was due to a greater time window for breach of sterile protocol.