Surgical Site Infection in Older Patients

Among older patients undergoing surgery, surgical site infection (SSI) is strongly associated with increased mortality, longer postoperative hospitalization, greater risk of rehospitalization, and higher hospital charges. Those were the conclusions of researchers from Duke University Medical Center and Durham VA Medical Center, both in Durham, NC, who performed a retrospective, matched-outcomes study of patients older than 65 years who underwent surgery between 1991 and 2003. Of the study’s 1,337 patients, 561 had deep incisional or organ space SSI and 576 served as controls.