SSI rates after pediatric outpatient surgery

Editor's Note

Surgical site infections (SSIs) after pediatric outpatient surgery occur at an appreciable rate and convey morbidity, this study finds.

Of more than 15,000 pediatric outpatient surgical cases analyzed, the SSI rate was 2.9 per 1,000 procedures. Otolaryngology procedures had significantly lower SSI rates, compared with endocrine, integumentary, male genital, and respiratory procedures.

Nearly half of patients with SSIs were admitted, 88% received antibiotics, and 15% returned to the OR. No risk factors were associated with the SSIs.

a1 Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital at Montefiore and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York a2 Department of Surgery, Children's Hospital at Montefiore and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York a3 Florida Atlantic University Charles E.