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Risk factors for surgical site infections among 1,772 patients operated on for lumbar disc herniation: a multicentre observational registry-based study

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Abstract

Background

There are no previous studies evaluating risk factors for surgical site infections (SSIs) and the effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotic treatment (PAT), specifically for patients operated on for lumbar disc herniation.

Method

This observational multicentre study comprises a cohort of 1,772 consecutive patients operated on for lumbar disc herniation without laminectomy or fusion at 23 different surgical units in Norway. The patients were interviewed about SSIs according to a standardised questionnaire at 3 months’ follow-up.

Results

Three months after surgery, 2.3% of the patients had an SSI. Only no PAT (OR = 5.3, 95% CI = 2.2–12.7, p< 0.001) and longer duration of surgery than the mean time (68 min) (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.2–6.6, p = 0.02) were identified as independent risk factors for SSI. Numbers needed to have PAT to avoid one SSI was 43.

Conclusions

In summary, this study clearly lends support to the use of PAT in surgery for lumbar disc herniation. Senior surgeons assisting inexperienced colleagues to avoid prolonged duration of surgery could also reduce the occurrence of SSI.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

    Samer Habiba

  2. Norwegian Registry for Spine Surgery (NORspine), Northern Norway Regional Health Authority, Bergen, Norway

    Øystein P. Nygaard, Jens I. Brox, Christian Hellum, Ivar M. Austevoll & Tore K. Solberg

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, St. Olavs Hospital and Institute of Neuroscience Medical Faculty Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Øystein P. Nygaard

  4. Department of Orthopaedics, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Jens I. Brox & Christian Hellum

  5. Department of Orthopaedics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

    Ivar M. Austevoll

  6. Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Tore K. Solberg

  7. The Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Tore K. Solberg

Authors
  1. Samer Habiba
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  2. Øystein P. Nygaard
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  3. Jens I. Brox
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  4. Christian Hellum
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  5. Ivar M. Austevoll
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  6. Tore K. Solberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samer Habiba.

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Funding

No funding was received for this research.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Habiba, S., Nygaard, Ø.P., Brox, J.I. et al. Risk factors for surgical site infections among 1,772 patients operated on for lumbar disc herniation: a multicentre observational registry-based study. Acta Neurochir 159, 1113–1118 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-017-3184-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-017-3184-2

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