CLINICAL PROFILE AND MORBIDITY IN SURGICAL SITE INFECTION FOLLOWING CESAREAN SECTION IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER IN NORTH KERALA, INDIA

Objectives: The objectives of this of this study were as follows: (1) To analyse the clinical presentation of surgical site infection (SSI) and to identify the causative organism (2) the maternal morbidities of post-cesarean SSI. Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, KMCT Medical college, Kozhikode, from April 1, to August 31, 2021, after clearance from the Ethical Committee, in which 153 cases of SSI Post cesarean were included in the study. Results: All the patients with SSI had wound discharge, followed by pain and induration (94.4%). Fever was present in 44.4%. About 44.4% of the wound discharge were detected between days 6 and 10. Mean day of detection of wound discharge among patients with SSI was 8.78 days. Superficial incisional SSI (94.4%) had the highest incidence followed by deep incisional (5.6%). Staphylococcus aureus (50%) was the most common organism isolated followed by Escherichia coli (11.1%). MRSA (11.1%) was isolated from only two cases. Intraoperative adhesions and prolonged operative time were a predictor of SSI (p=0.001). Mean days of hospital stay with and without SSI were 5 and 8.22, respectively, highlighting the extended length of hospital stay among patients with SSI. Conclusion: Prompt and early identification of SSI with appropriate treatment can reduce the maternal morbidity and improve reproductive health of women