History of surgical site infection increases the odds for a new infection after open incisional hernia repair.

BACKGROUND

It is unclear whether a history of surgical site infection is associated with developing a new infection after subsequent operations. We aim to investigate the impact of an earlier abdominal wall surgical site infection on future 30-day infectious wound complications after open incisional hernia repair with mesh.

METHODS

Patients undergoing elective, clean open incisional hernia repair were identified within the Americas Hernia Society Quality Collaborative and were divided into those with and without a history of a surgical site infection. Predictors of a surgical site infection and a surgical site infection requiring a procedural intervention were investigated using logistic regression and propensity-matched analysis. A subgroup analysis was done to investigate whether an earlier methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus surgical site infection specifically increases odds for infectious complications.

RESULTS

Of 3,168 identified patients, 589 had a history of a surgical site infection and experienced higher rates of postoperative surgical site infection (6.5% vs 2.9%, P < .001) and surgical site infections requiring procedural intervention (5.3% vs 1.9%, P < .001). After adjusting for identified confounders, a previous surgical site infection was independently associated with developing another surgical site infection (odds ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.32-3.10, P < .001) and a surgical site infection requiring procedural intervention (odds ratio 2.2, 95% confidence interval 1.35-3.55, P = .001). Propensity-matched analysis controlling for additional confounders confirmed the association of an earlier surgical site infection with the outcomes of interest (odds ratio 2.1 and 2.8, respectively). A subgroup analysis found that an earlier methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection specifically did not incur higher rates of surgical site infection when compared with non-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pathogens.

CONCLUSION

History of a surgical site infection increases the odds for new infectious complications after open incisional hernia repair in a clean wound. Investigations on perioperative interventions to ameliorate the negative impact of such association are necessary.