Validation of an electronic tool for flagging surgical site infections based on clinical practice patterns for triaging surveillance: Operational successes and barriers.

BACKGROUND: Surveillance is an effective strategy for reducing surgical site infections (SSIs); however, current identification methods are resource-intensive. Therefore, we sought to validate an electronic SSI triaging tool for detection of probable infections and identify operational barriers and challenges. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among all Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP)-reviewed surgeries at 2 Veterans Affairs medical centers from October 1, 2011-September 30, 2014. During the postoperative period, clinical and administrative variables associated with SSI (relevant microbiology order, antibiotic order, radiology order, and administrative codes) were extracted from the electronic medical record and used to score the probability (high, intermediate, and low) that an SSI occurred. VASQIP manual chart review was used as the gold standard of comparison. RESULTS: VASQIP manual review identified 118 SSIs out of 3,700 surgeries (3.2%). There were 2,041, 1,428, and 231 surgeries that met criteria for low, intermediate, and high probability for SSI. The tool's area under the curve was 0.86 (95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.89). The sensitivity among low-probability surgeries was 92.4%, and the specificity among high-probability surgeries was 95.1%. CONCLUSIONS: The electronic SSI tool has the potential to be used for triaging VASQIP surveillance toward the high-probability surgeries and to avoid manual review of surgeries with low probability of SSI.

Prolonged colonization with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in long-term care patients and the significance of "clearance".

Little is known about the persistence of colonization with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) in the nononcologic, non-intensive care unit patient. We studied all patients who had VRE isolated on > or =2 occasions of > 1 year apart (Study A) and those who had been "cleared" of VRE colonization after 3 negative stool cultures (Study B). Twelve patients had stored VRE isolates recovered > 1 year apart (Study A), and 58% of paired isolates were genotypically related according to pulsed field gel electrophoresis patterns. In Study B, stool samples were obtained weekly from 21 "cleared" patients for 5 weeks, which revealed that 24% were VRE positive. For these culture-positive patients, 72% of the cultures failed to detect VRE. Recent antibiotic use was significantly more common in the culture-positive patients, as compared with culture-negative patients (P=.003). Colonization with VRE may persist for years, even if the results of intercurrent surveillance stool and index site cultures are negative. Cultures for detection of VRE in stool samples obtained from patients declared "cleared" are insensitive.

Vertebral osteomyelitis in paraplegia: incidence, risk factors, clinical picture.

PURPOSE: Because vertebral osteomyelitis (VOM) appears to be relatively common among patients paralyzed due to myelopathy, a population of these patients was surveyed to A) estimate the incidence of VOM, B) identify risk factors, and C) review clinical features. METHOD: The cohort of 537 patients with myelopathy paralyzed prior to January 1, 1989 and subsequently hospitalized at the authors' facility over an 11-year survey period was surveyed. All were male, 93% had a traumatic etiology of paralysis, 50% were > or = 50 years of age, 53% were paraplegic, 54% were motor and sensory complete, and 56% had been paralyzed for 15 years or more. VOM was diagnosed by computerized tomographic demonstration of intervertebral end plate destruction and a positive culture of that site. The relative incidences of VOM were calculated as cases per spinal cord injury (SCI) and general hospitalizations; potential risk factors were assessed by rates of VOM in the myelopathy cohort and clinical features of VOM in these patients were noted. RESULTS: Ten patients with myelopathy developed VOM, an incidence of 20.9 cases/10,000 SCI versus 1.8 cases/10,000 general hospitalizations. The risk ratio was 7.1 (p = .05) for paraplegia, 7.9 (p = .04) for motor and sensory completeness, and 4.4 (p = .06) for diabetes mellitus. The risk ratio for the 3 factors combined was 14.5 (p = .001). Initial clinical presentations were notable for back pain and plain radiographic films revealing paraspinal masses and pleural effusion. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with myelopathy are uniquely at risk for VOM if their paralysis is at the paraplegic level and is motor and sensory complete.

Simplified surveillance for nosocomial bloodstream infections.

OBJECTIVE: To compare a surveillance definition of noso comial bloodstream infections requiring only microbiology data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) current definition. SETTING: Six teaching hospitals. METHODS: We classified a representative sample of 73 positive blood cultures from six hospitals growing common skin contaminant isolates using a definition for bacteremia requiring only microbiology data and the CDC definition for primary bloodstream infection (National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance [NNIS] System review method). The classifications assigned during routine prospective surveillance also were noted, and the time required to classify isolates by the two methods was compared. RESULTS: Among 65 blood cultures growing common skin contaminant isolates obtained from adults, the agreement rate between the microbiology data method and the NNIS review method was 91%. Agreement was significantly poorer for the eight blood cultures growing common skin contaminant isolates obtained from pediatric patients. The microbiology data method requires approximately 20 minutes less time per isolate than does routine surveillance. CONCLUSIONS: A definition based on microbiology data alone yields the same result as the CDC's definition in the large majority of instances. It is more resource-efficient than the CDC's current definition.