Surgical site infection

Perioperative mortality is death in relation to surgery, most frequently defined for research purposes as death within 24 hours, or alternatively within up to 30 days of a surgical procedure. An important consideration in the decision to perform any surgical procedure is to weigh the benefits against the risks. Anesthesiologists and surgeons employ various methods in assessing whether a patient is in optimal condition from a medical standpoint prior to undertaking surgery, and various statistical tools are available. ASA score is the most well known of these.

Immediate complications during the surgical procedure, e.g. bleeding or perforation of organs may have lethal sequelae.

Local infection of the operative field is prevented by using sterile technique, and prophylactic antibiotics are often given in abdominal surgery or patients known to have a heart defect or mechanical heart valves that are at risk of developing endocarditis.

Methods to decrease surgical site infections in spine surgery include skin preparation, use of surgical drains, prophylactic antibiotics, and vancomycin. Preventative antibiotics may also be effective.

Whether any specific dressing has an effect on the risk of surgical site infection of a wound that has been sutured closed is unclear.

Examples are deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, the risk of which can be mitigated by certain interventions, such as the administration of anticoagulants (e.g., warfarin or low molecular weight heparins), antiplatelet drugs (e.g., aspirin), , and cyclical pneumatic calf compression in high risk patients.

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