Sparse recent data are available on the epidemiology of surgical site infections (SSIs) in community hospitals. Our objective was to provide updated epidemiology data on complex SSIs in community hospitals and to characterize trends of SSI prevalence rates over time.
As a result, the DICON Surveillance Team performed a retrospective cohort study on SSI data that were collected from patients undergoing 26 commonly performed surgical procedures at 32 community hospitals in the southeastern United States from 2013 to 2018. SSI prevalence rates were calculated for each year and were stratified by procedure and causative pathogen.
The results of this study were published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.