465 Analysis of Female Authorship Trends in Neurosurgery Over a 10-year period: 2010–2020

Abstract

Surgical site infection (SSI) is a significant source of increased cost and morbidity among patients undergoing elective neurosurgical operations. Although much research has focused on the impact of various patient and surgical factors on SSI, studies examining the role of unintended surgical glove contamination (SGC) on SSI are unavailable.METHODS: Patients undergoing elective neurosurgical operations were prospectively collected over 1 year in this prospective quality improvement project. At the conclusion of the key portion of the operation, just prior to the start of closure, the gloves of the attending, resident, and scrub tech were swabbed using standard culture swabs and sent for aerobic and anaerobic culture. Preoperative antibiotics, choice of skin preparation, length of operation, and type of wound dressing were also recorded. Any wound infection or breakdown during follow up was recorded.RESULTS: Ninety-seven patients (36 spine and 56 cranial, and 5 "other" operations) were included for analysis. Overall incidence of SSI was 4.12%. SGC incidence was 10.3%, with the majority of positive cultures (60%) found on the scrub tech's gloves. None of the patients in which SGC was identified went on to develop SSI.CONCLUSION: The incidence of SGC in our cohort was over 10%. SGC identified at the time of closure did not correlate with development of SSI. SSI does not appear to result from wound contamination prior to closure.