Cost and risk of microbial contamination

Surgical site infections (SSIs) and hospital acquired infections (HAIs)

SSIs account for 14% of all HAIs and are the third most common type of HAI after urinary tract infections and pneumonia.⁴ Patients with a SSI are twice as likely to die as non-infected patients.⁵

HAIs are a serious problem. In the UK, for instance, more than 300,000 cases of HAIs are reported annually.⁶ HAIs cause approximately 5,000 deaths per year in the UK alone.⁷

In a recent report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention, on average 20-30% of these nosocomial infections occurring under current healthcare conditions can be prevented.⁸

How surgical infections are transmitted in the O.R.

Site infections are caused by the transfer of microorganisms to the wound. The transfer can be direct from contact with either patient or staff. Or indirect from either air or from contact with contaminated medical equipment. The source of the infection can be either from the patients themselves – endogenous – for example the patient’s own skin. Or, the source of the infection can be exogenous, most typically from medical staff.⁹

The risks of microbial contamination – the challenge of MRSA

It is estimated that as much as one-third of the population naturally carries Staphylococcus aureus – the ‘SA’ in MRSA – on the skin¹⁰. These bacteria can cause infections in patients’ open wounds and other susceptible sites.¹⁰ Naturally, this illustrates the importance of keeping Staphylococcus aureus away from contaminating patients’ open wounds.

MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, poses a great challenge for the healthcare sector worldwide. Once developed, these infections are difficult to treat since they are resistant to several antibiotics. This highlights the need to combat MRSA with efficient infection prevention.

The costs of infections from surgery

The total costs of hospital acquired infections are great and infections from surgery, SSI, are the third most common cause of infections in hospitals.⁴

In a recent study by the European Commission, no less than 16 million extra hospital days were attributed to HAI treatment, at a cost of €435 a day, resulting in an unnecessary additional annual spend of €7 billion.³

However, the location of the infection plays an important role in severity of its impact. A superficial surgical site infection is estimated to cost around USD 400 per case compared to USD 30,000 for a serious organ or space infection.⁴ However, the cost estimates of SSI are often underestimated due to its dependency on proper reporting and the fact that most studies only cover the cost for the extended hospital stay.^{3, 5}