WEDNESDAY, April 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) after hysterectomy include open approach, obesity, procedure duration, diabetes mellitus, and wound contamination, according to a study published online March 29 in the American Journal of Infection Control.

Boldtsetseg Tserenpuntsag, Dr.P.H., from the New York State Department of Health in Albany, and colleagues analyzed 66,001 hysterectomy procedures among 166 New York state hospitals between January 2015 and December 2018. The risk factors for SSI after hysterectomy were examined.

The researchers found SSI occurred in 1,093 of the 66,001 procedures, resulting in a 1.66 percent infection rate. Associated risk factors included open approach (not laparoscopic), contaminated or dirty wound class, body mass index of 30 kg/m² or greater, procedures with a duration of 186 minutes or more, American Society of Anesthesia score ≥3, gynecological cancer, and diabetes mellitus (adjusted odds ratios, 2.72, 2.28, 1.78, 1.78, 1.74, 1.54, and 1.46, respectively).

“Improved understanding of patient-related, clinical, and surgical factors associated with SSI in hysterectomy, a common surgical procedure in the United States, could help to reduce infections and improve risk models,” Tserenpuntsag said in a statement. “As far as we know, our findings are derived from the most comprehensive dataset to date, making them more generalizable as compared to previous studies on this subject.”

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