BACKGROUND: @entity2737 are a leading cause of postoperative morbidity and a cost to both the individual and community. The surgeon now has a reduced appreciation of wound- @entity281 rates because of shorter hospital stays and an increasing reliance on the primary care physicians. The incidence of @entity2737 which occurred following clean surgical procedures, as well as whether they could have been predicted by the known risk factors, were analysed in the present prospective study. METHODS: A prospective audit of the first 30 postoperative days following clean general surgical wounds was undergone, with inpatient assessment by a research nurse, and subsequent outpatient followup by @entity1 telephone interview. RESULTS: Of 1964 clean wounds over a 30-month period, 98.5% were traced. The overall clean-wound @entity281 rate was 12.6% (inpatient:4.5%; outpatient: 8.1%). Inpatient @entity281 rates(but not postdischarge wound- @entity281 rates) were significantly correlated (P < 0.05)to the American Society of Anesthesiologists' rating, operation duration, preoperative day stay, and age. Infection rates varied with operation type: vascular (18.3%), breast (16.0%),abdominal (10.3%), @entity547 (8.0%), head and neck (7.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The overall wound- @entity281 rate is higher than previously described with two thirds of @entity281 occurring after discharge. While inpatient wound- @entity281 rates fit known risk factors, postdischarge wound- @entity281 rates do not. Certain clean-wound operations have a higher incidence of @entity281 than others. Consideration needs to be given to the identification of risk factors for postdischarge @entity2737 ,and to further trials of prophylactic antibiotics in clean surgery.

Postdischarge clean XXXX : incidence underestimated and risk factors overemphasized.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patient'] @entity281 :: ('MESH:D007239', 'Disease') :: ['infection', 'infections'] @entity547 :: ('MESH:D006547', 'Disease') :: ['hernia'] @entity2737 :: ('MESH:D014946', 'Disease') :: ['Wound infections', 'wound infections']
@entity2737 :: (MESH:D014946,Disease) :: ['wound infections']
