A surgical site infection (SSI) is defined as an infection of the tissue in or around a surgical wound. To be considered a surgical site infection, the infection must occur within 30 days after surgery, or in the case of procedures in which implants are used (e.g. hip and knee replacement), 1 year after surgery.
Infections can be minor, or occasionally they can increase complications that result in a longer length of stay in the hospital, or an increased readmission rate for patients. Post-operative SSIs are the most common health care-associated infections in surgical patients.
Beginning 30 April 2009, all Ontario hospitals who perform hip and knee joint replacement surgical procedures are required to report quarterly their SSI preoperative antibiotic administration for those patients undergoing these procedures. While this indicator is not a meaure of actual surgical site infection, it is an important indicator of preventative strategies to decrease the risk of infection in the post-operative period. Studies have shown that when appropriate antibiotics are administer within a specifc time period prior to surgery (60-120 minutes) the risk of infection is decreased.
This rate is calculated as follows:
Primary Hip Replacement SSI Prevention Rate
Total Number of Patients Receiving Appropriately Timed Antibiotic
Total Number of Patients Undergoing Surgery X100%
Primary Knee Replacement SSI Prevention Rate
Total Number of Patients Receiving Appropriately Timed Antibiotic
Total Number of Patients Undergoing Surgery X 100%
OSMH Rates are presented below:
The public reporting of this indicator will reveal the percentage of all eligible patients who get antibiotics at the right time, just before a “first time” joint replacement surgery. We are working towards full compliance of this practice in every hip and knee joint replacement surgery at Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital.
Rates for the province of Ontario can be found at MOHLTC Patient Safety Indicators