Publication:

Analysis of the incidence and risk factors for surgical site infection following caesarean section in a tertiary healthcare centre

Background Caesarean section (CS) is one of the widely performed surgical modality that can save the lives of women and newborns during certain obstetric complications. However, cesarean delivery is associated with morbidity, including surgical site infections (SSI). So, the present study was done to evaluate the incidence and risk factor for SSI during caesarean delivery

Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 588 pregnant women who had CS delivery. Out of these 50 cases had SSI (SSI group) and the 538 had no SSI (non-SSI group). The risk factors such as parity, gestational age, BMI and cause of admission, previous cesarean sections, and maternal complications such as hypertension, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and anemia were evaluated. In addition, the findings of any cultures taken were also documented.

Results The SSI incidence was found to be 8.5%. The BMI ≥25 kg/m² showed higher incidence of SSI (p=0.032), and anemia showed a strong correlation with increased SSI rates (p<0.0001). The SSI group showed higher incidence of BMI (56% vs 40.3%) and anemia (38% vs 11.7%) as that of the non-SSI group. The most common organism was Klebsiella sp. in 25 (50%) of the patients.

Conclusions Thus, identifying the SSI risk factors can aid doctors in identifying women with distinct risk factor profiles. Post cesarean, women with anemia and obesity must be carefully monitored to reduce the complication and child wellbeing.