Evaluation of anesthetic technique on surgical site infections (SSIs) at a single institution

Study ObjectiveTo determine whether the previously published relationship between anesthetic technique and rate of surgical site infections (SSIs) was influenced by institution specific effects.DesignRetrospective Review of Quality Assurance and Hospital Epidemiology databases.SettingMetropolitan medical center.MeasurementsThe records of 7,751 patients who underwent knee or hip joint replacement from 2004 to 2010 were analyzed. Data regarding anesthetic technique, age, ASA status, gender, postoperative temperature, duration of anesthesia and type of surgery were from the department of anesthesiology quality assurance database and SSI cases were identified from the department of epidemiology database. The impact of anesthetic technique and other variables was assessed using bivariate and multivariate techniques.Main ResultsThere was no association of anesthetic technique on the rate of SSI. Duration of anesthesia and ASA status were associated with effects on the rate of SSI.ConclusionsThe impact of anesthetic technique on SSI following hip and knee replacement surgery may be site specific and using locally gathered quality data may assist in assessing specific institutional impact.