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About Surgical Site Infections

What Are Surgical Site Infections?

A surgical site infection develops after surgery in the same area where the surgery was performed.

Surgical site infections can develop up to 30 days after surgery was performed, or up to a year after a joint replacement or other "implant" surgery.

If you've had cardiac surgery, for example, you could develop an infection around your incision.

Or if someone's had a knee replaced, he or she could develop a surgical site infection in or around their knee.

Surgical site infections fall into three categories:

Just the skin or the tissue beneath your skin at the incision site is infected.
Deeper tissues, including muscles, may be infected.
Organs and other deep tissues may be infected.

Data shows that one to three out of every 100 people who has surgery will develop a surgical site infection, although some experts believe the risk to actually be much higher.

What if I Develop a Surgical Site Infection? Are They Dangerous?

Many surgical site infections can be treated with antibiotics. Even though some may be treatable, developing a surgical site infection can put you at risk of serious complications following your surgery.

If you develop an infection, you are:

Five times more likely to be readmitted to the hospital
Likely to need an average of eight additional days in the hospital
60% more likely to need intensive care.

People who develop a surgical site infection are also twice as likely to die—so it's important to take every reasonable precaution to prevent them, and to discuss your risk for surgical site infection with your surgeon.

What Causes a Surgical Site Infection?

When bacteria gets into a surgical incision (or "wound"), you can develop an infection.

The bacteria that cause surgical site infections often come from your own body. They can also come from a nurse or a surgeon, from the air or from another source after your surgery.

In most cases, the type of bacteria that causes a surgical site infection depends on the type of surgery you receive.

Types of bacteria that commonly cause surgical site infections include Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (often known as E. coli).

Some surgeries carry a higher risk of surgical site infections because some areas of the body, such as the stomach, naturally have higher levels of bacteria.

Certain patients are also at higher risk for surgical site infections.

What Are the Symptoms of Surgical Site Infections?

Symptoms can include:

Redness, swelling, pain or heat at your incision site
Drainage of cloudy fluid from your incision site
Fever
Discoloured skin around the incision
A foul odour from the site.

If you notice these symptoms shortly after you've had surgery, you may have developed a surgical site infection. You should talk to your doctor or nurse right away.

Am I at High Risk?

While everyone undergoing a surgical procedure is exposed to risk of a surgical site infection, there is a sub-set of patients who are specifically identified as being at high risk.

If you are at high risk, additional preventative measures may be warranted. Any of the following items would classify you as being at high risk for a surgical site infection:

Diabetic
Significantly overweight or obese
Elderly
Have a weak or suppressed immune system
Undergoing long surgery
Undergoing abdominal surgery

Both you and your healthcare team—your surgeons and nurses—have a role to play in preventing surgical site infections.

Learn more about how you and your healthcare team can prevent surgical site infections.