Infeksjon i operasjonsområdet.

BACKGROUND: All Norwegian hospitals must submit data to the Norwegian Surveillance System for Antibiotic Consumption and Healthcare-Associated Infections (NOIS) regarding surgical site infections following coronary artery bypass graft, caesarean section, hip arthroplasty, cholecystectomy and colonic surgery. The purpose of our study was to identify the proportion of patients undergoing surgery in 2016 who developed a surgical site infection, and the consequences in the form of prolonged postoperative hospitalisation, readmission or revision surgery. MATERIAL AND METHOD: All patients who underwent one of the five surgical procedures registered in NOIS in 2016 were included and followed up for 30 days after the surgery. The criteria set out by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control were used to define infections. RESULTS: From among the 31 401 patients included, a total of 1 225 surgical site infections were recorded. The incidence was highest following colonic surgery (10.9 %) and lowest following total hip arthroplasty (1.8 %). Median postoperative length of hospitalisation was three days for those with no infection, and six days for the 544 patients with a deep infection or an infection in an organ or cavity. The infections resulted in the need for revision surgery in 308 patients and readmission for 323 patients. INTERPRETATION: A total of 3.9 % of patients registered with a surgical procedure included in NOIS developed a surgical site infection. Consequences such as increased hospitalisation time, and more readmissions as well as revision procedures serve to highlight the importance of preventing such infections.

The role and utilisation of public health evaluations in Europe: a case study of national hand hygiene campaigns.

BACKGROUND: Evaluations are essential to judge the success of public health programmes. In Europe, the proportion of public health programmes that undergo evaluation remains unclear. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control sought to determine the frequency of evaluations amongst European national public health programmes by using national hand hygiene campaigns as an example of intervention. METHODS: A cohort of all national hand hygiene campaigns initiated between 2000 and 2012 was utilised for the analysis. The aim was to collect information about evaluations of hand hygiene campaigns and their frequency. The survey was sent to nominated contact points for healthcare-associated infection surveillance in European Union and European Economic Area Member States. RESULTS: Thirty-six hand hygiene campaigns in 20 countries were performed between 2000 and 2012. Of these, 50% had undergone an evaluation and 55% of those utilised the WHO hand hygiene intervention self-assessment tool. Evaluations utilised a variety of methodologies and indicators in assessing changes in hand hygiene behaviours pre and post intervention. Of the 50% of campaigns that were not evaluated, two thirds reported that both human and financial resource constraints posed significant barriers for the evaluation. CONCLUSION: The study identified an upward trend in the number of hand hygiene campaigns implemented in Europe. It is likely that the availability of the internationally-accepted evaluation methodology developed by the WHO contributed to the evaluation of more hand hygiene campaigns in Europe. Despite this rise, hand hygiene campaigns appear to be under-evaluated. The development of simple, programme-specific, standardised guidelines, evaluation indicators and other evidence-based public health materials could help promote evaluations across all areas of public health.

National surveillance of surgical site infections after coronary artery bypass grafting in Norway: incidence and risk factors.

OBJECTIVE: A mandatory national surveillance system for surgical site infections (SSIs) following certain surgical procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), was introduced in Norway in 2005. The objectives of this study were to measure national baseline incidence rates of SSIs after CABG, describe the characteristics of the patients and procedures, and identify possible risk factors for infection. METHODS: In 2005-2009, all hospitals that performed CABG were invited to assess all patients undergoing CABG surgery in 3-month periods for SSIs. The hospitals evaluated infection status at discharge and 30 days after surgery by sending post-discharge questionnaires to all patients. We calculated incidence proportions and risk ratios for different risk factors. We applied the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) risk index to the data. RESULTS: In total, 2440 patients were included. Altogether, 124 sternal and 217 harvest site infections were registered, giving incidence proportions of 5.1% and 8.9%, respectively. Over 95% of infections occurred post-discharge from the hospital. No risk factors were identified. Incidence did not significantly increase with higher NNIS risk index; however, 93% of the patients fell into the same risk category. CONCLUSIONS: We have provided a baseline rate for SSIs after CABG procedures in Norway. The results show the importance of post-hospital discharge follow-up. The NNIS risk index did not adequately stratify CABG patients. We recommend that more potential risk variables should be included in the surveillance, such as the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE), height, weight, and diabetes.