On this page: Background | Educational Resources | Setting-Specific Resources | Patient Resources | Data & Reporting
Background
Surgical site infections (SSIs) occur after surgery in the part of the body where the surgery took place. These infections may involve only the skin or may be more serious and involve tissue under the skin or organs. SSIs sometimes take days or months after surgery to develop so it is important to monitor for signs and symptoms of infection.
Symptoms of an SSI may include:
- Fever
- Redness and/or pain around the surgical site
- Cloudy fluid draining from the surgical wound
Some patients might be more likely to get a SSI because of their age, health conditions, the length or type of surgery, or other factors. It’s important for both patients and healthcare providers to follow infection prevention steps to lower the risk of infection.
Educational Resources
VDH Infection Prevention and Control Assessments: The HAI/AR team is available to conduct a no-cost, non-regulatory, onsite visit to help a facility identify its infection prevention strengths and areas of opportunity.
- Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices for Safe Healthcare Delivery in All Settings
- Surgical Site Infection Prevention Guideline
- Project Firstline - CDC’s Project Firstline provides innovative and accessible infection control education for all frontline healthcare workers
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Virginia Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory Group
- Virginia Infection Prevention and Control Training Alliance (VIPTA) - search the education and training resource library for resources related to bed bugs or scabies
VCU Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center
- Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center (VIPTC) - courses and trainings related to infection prevention and control
World Health Organization
- Surgical Safety Checklist – tool for use by clinicians to improve the safety of their operations and reduce surgical deaths and complications. Applicable for national and international settings.
- My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene Poster: Focus on Caring for a Patient with a Post-Operative Wound
Setting-Specific Resources
Surgical site infection resources specific to hospital settings:
- Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2022 Update (SHEA/IDSA/APIC)
View Hospitals homepage
Patient Resources
Data & Reporting
- CMS Care Compare – a searchable database of Medicare-certified facilities including acute care hospitals. Allows users to compare facilities on a variety of quality measures including surgical site infections and other facility characteristics.
National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
- Resources related to reporting SSI data to NHSN are available on the CDC website, including protocols, data collection forms, and analysis resources.
- Acute care hospital data on surgical site infections following colon surgery and abdominal hysterectomy procedures can be accessed on the VDH HAI/AR Program Data website.
Virginia Communicable Disease & Outbreak Reporting Requirements
- State regulatory code aligns Virginia’s healthcare-associated infection reporting requirements with those required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- Acute care hospitals report SSI events following abdominal hysterectomy and colon surgery to VDH via CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).