ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection is defined as an infection related to the surgical procedure in the area of manipulation occurring within the first 30 postoperative days. The diagnostic criteria include: purulent drainage, isolation of microorganisms, and signs of infection. AIMS: To describe the epidemiologic characteristics and differences among the types of prophylactic regimens associated with hospital-acquired infections at the general surgery service of a tertiary care hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The electronic case records of patients that underwent general surgery at a tertiary care hospital within the time frame of January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014 were reviewed. A convenience sample of 728 patients was established and divided into the following groups: Group 1: n=728 for the epidemiologic study; Group 2: n=638 for the evaluation of antimicrobial prophylaxis; and Group 3: n=50 for the evaluation of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains in the intensive care unit. The statistical analysis was carried out with the SPSS 19 program, using the Mann-Whitney U test and the chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of 728 procedures were performed (65.9% were elective surgeries). Three hundred twelve of the patients were males and 416 were females. Only 3.98% of the patients complied with the recommended antimicrobial prophylaxis, and multidrug-resistant bacterial strains were found in the intensive care unit. DISCUSSION: A single prophylactic dose is effective, but adherence to this recommendation was not adequate. CONCLUSIONS: The prophylactic guidelines are not strictly adhered to in our environment. There was a significant association between the development of nosocomial infections from multidrug-resistant germs and admission to the intensive care unit.
