https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2023.2604
The impact of COVID-19 prevention measures on surgical wound infection rates post-cardiac surgery
Accepted: June 10, 2023
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on medical services. Several measures have been implemented to reduce the risk of viral transmission. In this paper, we assessed the impact of these measures on surgical wound infection rates in post-cardiac surgery patients. Hypothesis testing was used to compare post-cardiac operation infection rates between the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic being declared and the first 13 months of the pandemic. The infection rates in 969 patients with operations between 01/03/2019 and 29/02/2020 were compared to those of 925 patients with cardiac surgery between 01/03/2020 and 31/03/2021. Infection rates for various operative urgencies and infection types were analyzed. To compare infection rates, a two-tailed pooled z-test using the difference in infection proportions was performed. A 5% significance level was used, and only categories with at least 10 patients in both the pre-COVID and COVID populations were tested. For leg infections, only operations involving coronary artery bypass grafting were included. To ensure that any differences in outcomes were not due to differences in patient demographics resulting in unequal operative risks, Euroscore II values, a measure of cardiac operative risk, were compared between the pre-COVID and post-COVID cohorts. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to determine whether the distributions of Euroscore II values were likely to be drawn from the same population. A significance level of 5% was used. A total of 1901 patients (932 during the COVID-19 pandemic) were included in this study. There was a significant reduction in post-operative infections for all patients undergoing cardiac surgery, from 4.3% of patients before COVID-19 to 1.5% during the pandemic. During the pandemic, fewer elective and more urgent operations were performed. This study suggests a significant role for iatrogenic causes in wound infections before the pandemic. The implementation of COVID-19 prevention measures by healthcare providers can reduce surgical infection rates. As COVID-19-related restrictions have been eased, we suggest maintaining them for healthcare providers to reduce the incidence of surgical wound infections.
Ethics Approval
The study protocol was approved by the Audit, Assurance & Effectiveness Team of the University Hospitals of Plymouth (protocol no. CA_2021-22-120 dated 17/09/2021).How to Cite
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Angelica Cersosimo, Mauro Riccardi, Ludovica Amore, Giuliana Cimino, Gianmarco Arabia, Marco Metra, Enrico Vizzardi, Varicella zoster virus and cardiovascular diseases , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 93 No. 2 (2023)
- Giorgio E. Polistina, Camilla Di Somma, Martina Flora, Alberto E. Maraolo, Novella Carannante, Gerardo Langella, Angela I. Mirizzi, Anna Annunziata, Giuseppe Fiorentino, Respiratory Intensive Care Unit management and efficacy during the COVID-19 outbreak in Naples, Italy , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 93 No. 2 (2023)
- Nabila Kanwal, Humza Thobani, Ainan Arshad, Priya Ashok Kumar, Fatima Amjad, Safia Awan, Muhammad Irfan, Factors predicting mortality among patients with COVID-19 associated hospital acquired pneumonia: insights from a tertiary care center , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 93 No. 4 (2023)
- Miguel Osejo-Betancourt, Sebastian Molina-Paez , Mariana Rubio-Romero , Pulmonary tuberculosis and COVID-19 coinfection: A new medical challenge , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 92 No. 3 (2022)
- Davide Papi, Giulia Montigiani, Luca Bucciardini, How the work of respiratory physiotherapists changes the tracheostomy management and decannulation in a NICU department: an Italian experience , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 93 No. 3 (2023)
- Paola Pierucci, Claudia Crimi, Annalisa Carlucci, Lavinia Palma, Alberto Noto, Giovanna Elisiana Carpagnano, Raffaele Scala, Long-term home noninvasive ventilation (LTHNIV) in restrictive thoracic diseases: the Italian snapshot , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 93 No. 4 (2023)
- Syed Muhammad Zubair, Muhammad Waleed Chaudhry, Ali Bin Sarwar Zubairi, Talha Shahzad, Aqusa Zahid, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Javaid Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Irfan, The effect of ivermectin on non-severe and severe COVID-19 disease and gender-based difference of its effectiveness , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 92 No. 4 (2022)
- Nevin Taci Hoca, Ebru Ünsal, Koza Murat, Arzu Ertürk, Nermin Çapan, Can serum progranulin level be used as a prognostic biomarker in non-small cell lung cancer? , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 93 No. 3 (2023)
- Bhupen Barman, Arvind Nune, Pranav Ish, Pranjal Phukan, Donboklang Lynser, Hem Raj Sapkota, Complete persistent remission of rheumatoid arthritis after COVID-19 infection - A rare case and literature review , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 93 No. 1 (2023)
- Domenico Galzerano , Valeria Pergola, Abdulhalim J. Kinsara, Olga Vriz , Isra Elmahi, Abdullah Al Sergani, Feras Khaliel , Antonio Cittadini, Giovanna Di Giannuario, Paolo Colonna, Right-sided infective endocarditis and pulmonary embolism: a multicenter study , Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease: Vol. 92 No. 4 (2022)
<< < 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
