Postoperative Wound Infection

Abstract

Postoperative infectious complications are a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in the surgical patient. These septic events usually involve the urinary or respiratory tracts or occur in the operative wound. The overall incidence of postoperative wound infection was 7.5 per cent in a much-quoted national study reported nearly two decades ago.¹ The incidence varied from surgeon to surgeon, from hospital to hospital, and from one surgical procedure to another. The lowest infection rate (<2 per cent) followed clean operations, such as elective orthopedic procedures or herniorrhaphy, in which the possible sources of wound contamination were solely airborne or exogenous. . . .