Effect of COVID-19 precautions on postop SSIs

Editor's Note

This study from the Mayo Clinic finds that perioperative COVID-19 precautions did not significantly reduce the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs).

The analysis included 29,904 patients who had colorectal, hysterectomy, hip, and knee prosthesis procedures at the Mayo Clinic’s multicenter institution between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020. Patients from the COVID-19-era (March-December 2020) were compared and matched with historical controls (2018/2019).

When patients from the matched cohort were compared with the COVID-19-era cohort, there was:

• a decreased risk of SSIs after colorectal, hysterectomy, and knee prosthesis procedures, though not statistically significant
• an increased risk of SSIs after hip prosthesis procedures, though not statistically significant.

Because of the heightened awareness of perioperative viral transmission and increased adherence to perioperative COVID-19 precautions, it was hoped that perioperative SSIs would be further reduced as a result, the authors say. Further study is needed to evaluate the effect of modifiable environmental factors on SSIs.