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Researchers identify risk factors most commonly related to surgical site infections
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Researchers identified the rates and common risk factors for surgical site infections following aesthetic surgery, according to study results published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
Christodoulos Kaoutzanis , MD, and colleagues accessed the CosmetAssure insurance database (Aesthetic Surgeons’ Financial Group, Birmingham, Alabama) for the large-scale patient study.
There were 129,007 patients enrolled in the insurance program between May 2008 and May 2013 with a total of 183,914 procedures performed. Mean patient age was 40.9 years (range, 5-93 years) and mean BMI was 24.3 kg/m2 (range, 17-56.3 kgm2). There were 120,650 women, 8,357 men, 10,621 active smokers and 2,368 patients who self-reported diabetes.
Patients who developed surgical site infections postoperatively were older (mean age, 43.8 vs. 40.9 years, P < .01), more likely to be female (0.5% vs. 0.3%, P = .02), have a higher BMI (mean, 27.3 kg/m2 vs. 24.3 kg/m2, P < .01), more likely to be smokers (10.5% vs. 8.2%, P = .04) and more likely to have pre-existing diabetes (4.5% vs. 1.8%, P < .01), compared with those that did not develop wound infections.
Most procedures were performed in accredited surgical centers (57.4%), followed by hospitals (26.7%) and office-based surgical suites (15.9%). There were fewer surgical site infections following procedures performed in office-based surgical suites (P < .01).
A majority of the patients underwent a combined procedure (68%), which had a higher rate of surgical site infections compared with single procedures (0.8% vs. 0.3%, P < .01). Body procedures had an increased rate compared with breast or face procedures (0.9% vs. 0.2%, P < .01).
“The overall incidence of major [surgical site infections] after aesthetic surgery is very low but not irrelevant given the fact that these procedures should carry a minimal risk of major complications since they are performed with an ultimate goal of cosmesis in healthy individuals,” the researchers wrote. “It has to be stressed that minor [surgical site infections] may be common following these procedures and, although not examined in our study, should not be undervalued.” – by Talitha Bennett
Disclosure: Kaoutzanis reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for the other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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