SURGICAL SITE INFECTION OF ELECTIVE CRANIOTOMIES IN A MEDICAL RESIDENCY SERVICE IN NEUROSURGERY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48075/vscs.v9i2.32288Abstract
Surgical site infections of craniotomies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, are defined as one of the following criteria: a) purulent drainage from a surgical incision; b) organism identification by culture; c) incision that dehisces, localized pain, localized inflammation, and/or fever (> 38 ºC); and evidence of empyema or abscess on images. The incidence of infection described by the literature varies from 2.2 to 19.8%. Objective: Verify the incidence of surgical site infections of nonemergent craniotomies in a medical residency service in neurosurgery. Methods: Retrospective study of the medical records of the patients submitted to nonemergent craniotomies between March 2018 and September 2019, and presented surgical site infection. Results: Out of 100 patients, the diagnosis of surgical site infection was established in 8 (8.0%). The mean duration of the surgical operations was 6.44 hours (2.25 to 10.75 hours). Clinical manifestations were incisional (n = 4; 50.0%), meningitis (n = 2; 25.0%), ostemyelitis (n = 1; 12.5%) and epidural empyema (n = 1; 12.5%). The treatment constituted of surgical reoperation and antibiotic therapy (n = 2; 25.0%) or only antibiotic therapy (n = 6; 75.0%). The antibiotic therapy lasted from 6 to 183 days (mean of 38.1 days). Microbiology revealed the infectious agent in two cases (n = 2; 25.0%). Conclusion: The incidence of surgical site infection of nonemergent craniotomies was congruent with the incidence described by the literature. Unequivocal risk factors for infection were not demonstrated by the study.