[Automated medical data processing for assessing surgical wound infections].
The ability of an automated medical data processing system to identify causative factors of postoperative wound infections was examined. The system provides an ongoing quality control tool in the general surgical ward. Data on 1212 abdominal or inguinal surgical wounds in 1101 patients, collected during a 2-year period, were analyzed. The correlation between rate of infection and the type of operation, operative findings, degree of operating room sterility, adequacy of surgical technique, and level of the surgeon's expertise were determined. The rate of infection was similar to that reported in the literature. The computer required only 6% of the time estimated for obtaining the same data by examining the patients' files. It is recommended that the software be modified to include additional factors in the data base in order to draw more detailed conclusions. It is also recommended that a program be developed to perform a 1-step extraction and analysis of data in general, and in respect to each surgeon. This will make the data processing system a rapid, efficient and user-friendly tool.
Mezer
E
E
Dept. of Surgery B, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa.
Hashmonai
M
M
D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D011786:Quality Control; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012984:Software; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection