Background: The incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) across surgical procedures, specialties, and conditions is reported to vary from 0.1% to 50%. Operative duration is often cited as an independent and potentially modifiable risk factor for SSI. The objective of this systematic review was to provide an in-depth understanding of the relation between operating time and SSI.Patients and Methods: This review included 81 prospective and retrospective studies. Along with study design, likelihood of SSI, mean operative times, time thresholds, effect measures, confidence intervals, and p values were extracted. Three meta-analyses were conducted, whereby odds ratios were pooled by hourly operative time thresholds, increments of increasing operative time, and surgical specialty.Results: Pooled analyses demonstrated that the association between extended operative time and SSI typically remained statistically significant, with close to twice the likelihood of SSI observed across various time thresholds. The likelihood of SSI increased with increasing time increments; for example, a 13%, 17%, and 37% increased likelihood for every 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min of surgery, respectively. On average, across various procedures, the mean operative time was approximately 30 min longer in patients with SSIs compared with those patients without.Conclusions: Prolonged operative time can increase the risk of SSI. Given the importance of SSIs on patient outcomes and health care economics, hospitals should focus efforts to reduce operative time.

Prolonged operative time is associated with an increase in the risk of complications. Given the adverse consequences of complications, decreased operative times should be a universal goal for surgeons, hospitals, and policy-makers. Future study is recommended on the evaluation of interventions targeted to reducing operating time.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal surgical procedures place substantial burden on health care systems because of the high complication risk, of surgical site infections in particular. The risk of surgical site infection after colorectal surgery is one of the highest of any surgical specialty. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence, cost of infections after colorectal surgery, and potential economic benefit of using antimicrobial wound closure to improve patient outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort analysis and probabilistic cost analysis were performed. SETTINGS: The analysis utilized a database for colorectal patients in the United States between 2014 and 2018. PATIENTS: A total of 107,665 patients who underwent colorectal surgery were included in the analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rate of infection was together with identified between 3 and 180 days postoperatively, infection risk factors, infection costs over 24 months postoperatively by payer type (commercial payers and Medicare), and potential costs avoided per patient by using an evidence-based innovative wound closure technology. RESULTS: Surgical site infections were diagnosed postoperatively in 23.9% of patients (4.0% superficial incisional and 19.9% deep incisional/organ space). Risk factors significantly increased risk of deep incisional/organ-space infection and included several patient comorbidities, age, payer type, and admission type. After 12 months, adjusted increased costs associated with infections ranged from $36,429 to $144,809 for commercial payers and $17,551 to $102,280 for Medicare, depending on surgical site infection type. Adjusted incremental costs continued to increase over a 24-month study period for both payers. Use of antimicrobial wound closure for colorectal surgery is projected to significantly reduce median payer costs by $809 to $1170 per patient compared with traditional wound closure. LIMITATIONS: The inherent biases associated with retrospective databases limited this study. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical site infection cost burden was found to be higher than previously reported, with payer costs escalating over a 24-month postoperative period. Cost analysis results for adopting antimicrobial wound closure aligns with previous evidence-based studies, suggesting a fiscal benefit for its use as a component of a comprehensive evidence-based surgical care bundle for reducing the risk of infection. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/B358. EVALUACIÓN DEL RIESGO Y LA CARGA ECONÓMICA DE LA INFECCIÓN DEL SITIO QUIRÚRGICO DESPUÉS DE UNA CIRUGÍA COLORRECTAL UTILIZANDO UNA BASE DE DATOS LONGITUDINAL DE EE.UU.: ¿EXISTE UN PAPEL PARA LA TECNOLOGÍA INNOVADORA DE CIERRE DE HERIDAS ANTIMICROBIANAS PARA REDUCIR EL RIESGO DE INFECCIÓN? ANTECEDENTES: Los procedimientos quirúrgicos colorrectales suponen una carga considerable para los sistemas de salud debido al alto riesgo de complicaciones, particularmente las infecciones del sitio quirúrgico. El riesgo de infección posoperatoria del sitio quirúrgico colorrectal es uno de los más altos de cualquier especialidad quirúrgica. OBJETIVO: El propósito de este estudio fue determinar la incidencia, el costo de las infecciones después de la cirugía colorrectal y el beneficio económico potencial del uso del cierre de la herida con antimicrobianos para mejorar los resultados de los pacientes. DISEÑO: Análisis retrospectivo de cohorte observacional y análisis de costo probabilístico. AJUSTES: El análisis utilizó la base de datos para pacientes colorrectales en los Estados Unidos entre 2014 y 2018. PACIENTES: Un total de 107,665 pacientes sometidos a cirugía colorrectal. PRINCIPALES MEDIDAS DE RESULTADO: Se identificó una tasa de infección entre 3 y 180 días después de la operación, los factores de riesgo de infección, los costos de infección durante 24 meses posteriores a la operación por tipo de pagador (pagadores comerciales y Medicare), y los costos potenciales evitados por paciente utilizando una tecnología innovadora de cierre de heridas basada en evidencias. RESULTADOS: Infecciones del sitio quirúrgico, diagnosticadas postoperatoriamente en el 23,9% de los pacientes (4,0% incisional superficial y 19,9% incisional profunda / espacio orgánico). Los factores de riesgo aumentaron significativamente el riesgo de infección profunda por incisión / espacio orgánico e incluyeron comorbilidades selectivas del paciente, edad, tipo de pagador y tipo de admisión. Después de 12 meses, el aumento de los costos asociados con las infecciones varió de $ 36,429 a $ 144,809 para los pagadores comerciales y de $ 17,551 a $ 102,280 para Medicare, según el tipo de infección del sitio quirúrgico. Los costos incrementales ajustados continuaron aumentando durante un período de estudio de 24 meses para ambos pagadores. Se prevé que el uso del cierre antimicrobiano de la herida para la cirugía colorrectal reducirá significativamente los costos medios del pagador en $ 809- $ 1,170 por paciente en comparación con el cierre tradicional de la herida. LIMITACIONES: Los sesgos inherentes asociados a las bases de datos retrospectivas limitaron este estudio. CONCLUSIONES: Se encontró que la carga del costo de la infección del sitio quirúrgico es mayor que la reportada previamente, y los costos del pagador aumentaron durante un período postoperatorio de 24 meses. Los resultados del análisis de costos para la adopción del cierre de heridas antimicrobianas se alinean con estudios previos basados en evidencia, lo que sugiere un beneficio fiscal para su uso como componente de un paquete integral de atención quirúrgica basada en evidencia para reducir el riesgo de infección. Consulte Video Resumen en http://links.lww.com/DCR/B358.

Objective: To compare economic and clinical outcomes of barbed sutures versus conventional sutures alone in wound closure for patients undergoing spinal surgery. Method: A retrospective study using the Premier Healthcare Database. The database was searched for patients who underwent elective inpatient spinal surgery (fusion or laminectomy) for a spinal disorder between 1 January 2014 and 30 June 2018 (first=index admission). Using billing records for medical supplies used during the index admission, patients were classified into mutually-exclusive groups: patients with any use of STRATAFIX (Ethicon, US) knotless tissue control devices (barbed sutures group); or patients with use of conventional sutures alone (conventional sutures group). Outcomes included the index admission's length of stay, total and subcategories of hospital costs, non-home discharge, operating room time (ORT, minutes), wound complications and readmissions within ≤90 days. Propensity score matching and generalised estimating equations were used to compare outcomes between the study groups. Results: After matching, 3705 patients were allocated to each group (mean age=61.5 years [standard deviation, SD±12.9]; 54% were females). Compared with the conventional suture group, the barbed suture group had significantly lower mean ORT (239±117 minutes, versus 263±79 minutes conventional sutures, p=0.015). Operating room costs were also siginificantly lower in the barbed suture group ($6673±$3976 versus $7100±$2700 conventional sutures, p=0.020). Differences were statistically insignificant for other outcomes (all p>0.05). Subanalysis of patients undergoing fusions of ≥2 vertebral joints yielded consistent results. Conclusion: In this study, wound closure incorporating barbed sutures was associated with lower ORT and operating room costs, with no significant difference in wound complications or readmissions, when compared with conventional sutures alone.

ObjectivesTo determine hospital resource utilization, associated costs and the risk of complications during hospitalization for four types of surgical resections and to estimate the incremental burden among patients with cancer compared to those without cancer.MethodsPatients (≥18 years old) were identified from the Premier Research Database of US hospitals if they had any of the following types of elective surgical resections between 1/2008 and 12/2014: lung lobectomy, lower anterior resection of the rectum (LAR), liver wedge resection, or total hysterectomy. Cancer status was determined based on ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes. Operating room time (ORT), length of stay (LOS), and total hospital costs, as well as frequency of bleeding and infections during hospitalization were evaluated. The impact of cancer status on outcomes (from a hospital perspective) was evaluated using multivariable generalized estimating equation models; analyses were conducted separately for each resection type.ResultsAmong the identified patients who underwent surgical resection, 23 858 (87.9% with cancer) underwent lung lobectomy, 13 522 (63.8% with cancer) underwent LAR, 2916 (30.0% with cancer) underwent liver wedge resection and 225 075 (11.3% with cancer) underwent total hysterectomy. After adjusting for patient, procedural, and hospital characteristics, mean ORT, LOS, and hospital cost were statistically higher by 3.2%, 8.2%, and 9.2%, respectively for patients with cancer vs. no cancer who underwent lung lobectomy; statistically higher by 6.9%, 9.4%, and 9.6%, respectively for patients with cancer vs. no cancer who underwent LAR; statistically higher by 4.9%, 14.8%, and 15.7%, respectively for patients with cancer vs. no cancer who underwent liver wedge resection; and statistically higher by 16.0%, 27.4%, and 31.3%, respectively for patients with cancer vs. no cancer who underwent total hysterectomy. Among patients who underwent each type of resection, risks for bleeding and infection were generally higher among patients with cancer as compared to those without cancer.ConclusionsIn this analysis, we found that patients who underwent lung lobectomy, lower anterior resection of the rectum (LAR), liver wedge resection or total hysterectomy for a cancer indication have significantly increased hospital resource utilization compared to these same surgeries for benign indications.