An analysis of post caesarean section surgical site infections in a tertiary care women's and Neonate's Hospital

Background: Surgical Site Infections [SSI] are infections that develop within thirty days of surgery. They are an important cause of Hospital Acquired Infections [HAI]. The Hospital Infection Control Committee [HICC] of a hospital plays an important role in monitoring the incidence of SSI in a hospital, including the clinical audit of any outbreaks, and in suggesting measures to reduce the incidence of SSI. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to identify factors contributing to the incidence of SSI in a tertiary care maternity hospital with a view to implementing practices that would contribute a reduction in the incidence of the same. Methods: We monitored the incidence of SSI in a tertiary care maternity hospital geared for managing high risk pregnancies as well as normal pregnancies and carried out a clinical audit of an increase in the rates of SSI in two months. We present the details of measures which were subsequently put in place to reduce the incidence of such cases in our hospital. Results: In cases of Surgical Site Infections [SSI] in patients delivered by LSCS at a referral tertiary care maternity and neonatology hospital, raised BMI (in 45.45% of cases), emergency versus planned LSCS (in 81.81% of cases), prolonged duration of surgery (in 72.72% of cases), and administration of prophylactic antibiotics beyond the accepted window period (in 72.72% of cases), were all found to be significant risk factors. Conclusion: Careful monitoring of the incidence of SSI in LSCS patients along with regular audit of increase in cases and institution of appropriate preventive measures to lower the risk factors can result in the reduction of such cases