Outcomes associated with a five-point surgical site infection prevention bundle in women undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for surgical site infection and to define rates associated with cytoreductive surgery before and after implementation of an infection prevention bundle. METHODS: We conducted a prospective quality improvement study. Patients who underwent ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer cytoreductive surgery at an academic tertiary care center from April 2014 to April 2016 were prospectively enrolled. Patient demographics, surgical variables, and surgical site infection rates were compared with a historical cohort after introduction of a 5-point infection prevention bundle, including: 1) preoperative and intraoperative skin preparation with 4% chlorhexidine and intraoperative vaginal preparation with 4% chlorhexidine; 2) preoperative use of oral antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation; 3) appropriate timing of intraoperative antibiotics; 4) adoption of enhanced sterile surgical techniques for colon procedures and incisional closure; and 5) perioperative incision management. RESULTS: During the study period, 219 women underwent surgery: 91 prebundle and 128 treated in the postbundle period. Stage, body mass index, proportion of patients undergoing colon or upper abdominal surgery, and estimated blood loss were not different between the cohorts. Overall, the surgical site infection rate prebundle was 18 (20%); this was reduced to four (3%) postbundle (odds ratio [OR] 0.13, 95% CI 0.037- 0.53; P