Post-operative infection (POI) is a serious complication in all surgical disciplines and can derail a patient's treatment and recovery course. In this analysis, we examine national trends, risk factors, and costs associated with POI.
Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the years available for data analysis at the time of this study (2003-2010), we performed a cross-sectional study of adult (≥18 years) inpatients with POI and designated Clinical Classification Software (CCS) procedural class codes for the operations performed. A comparison group was selected randomly from patients with the same CCS codes who underwent the same procedures but did not experience POI. As the NIS represents 20% of U.S. hospital admissions, excess cost and stay were calculated on the basis of the average difference between cost and duration of stay for POI cases and the cost and duration of stay for the comparison group, then extrapolated to estimate the national burden for the remaining 80% of stays nationwide.
Sample admissions included 139,652 cases of POI and 941,670 comparison subjects. The POIs were most common in procedures involving the digestive tract (46.5%), cardiovascular system (16.3%), or musculoskeletal system (11.2%). Older age, male gender, high Charlson Comorbidity Index Score (CCIS), and teaching, urban, or large hospitals were independent risk factors for POI in the multivariable model (p < 0.05). A POI was associated with a higher risk of death (odds ratio 2.93; 95% confidence interval 2.82-3.04, p < 0.001). Nationally, we estimate that POI resulted in an annual average of 1.04 million days of excess hospital stay and $2.72 billion excess cost.
Identification of independent risk factors suggests areas for quality improvement initiatives. Post-operative infection carries substantial clinical and financial burdens in the United States, and further analysis of the associated costs is needed to identify areas for intervention to reduce this burden.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
1
3%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
1
3%
Other
4
10%
Unknown
18
45%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 11. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 December 2018.
All research outputs
#3,989,266
of 31,681,464 outputs
Outputs from Surgical Infections
#92
of 1,041 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#60,679
of 362,715 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Surgical Infections
#6
of 28 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 31,681,464 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 87th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,041 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.9. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 362,715 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 28 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its contemporaries.
