Abstract

Purposes: Nosocomial infections (NCIs) are infections that generally occur 48 hours after hospitalization. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the major contributor to patient morbidity, health care costs and death. The rational for this study was to assess the frequency of NCIs in surgical wards and investigate possible predictors for SSIs.
Methods: It was an observational and prospective study for the purpose of providing structured opportunities for Hospital administration and health professionals in countering SSIs. The total number of patients were 1611 including Saudis and non-Saudi nationals. Each patient was followed up from the time of admission until discharge (with a maximum period of 30 days postoperatively). Surgical wounds were inspected at the time of the first dressing and weekly thereafter for 30 days. Also, swabs from a deeper part of the wound were taken from the infected surgical sites, and routinely from the surface of non–infected sites. The specimens were gram stained and examined for the presence of organisms (cultured aerobically and anaerobically).
Findings: The main findings were: SSIs causative organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (25% incidence) followed by Echeriashia coli (23% incidence). The incidence rate of surgical site infections was 11.4%. The presences of co-morbidities were a risk factor for SSIs in this study and a higher level of education was related to decreases in SSIs.
Recommendations: This article recommended proper nursing care, sterilization and disinfection of instruments and equipment with careful handling of intensive procedures to control infection which will improve the efficiency and quality of surgical care.