title: Surgical patients with methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus infection: an analysis of outcome using P-POSSUM.
abstract: The significance of MRSA infection in surgical patients was studied using the P-POSSUM scoring system. All surgical patients undergoing operation between 1/10/96 and 30/09/97 were prospectively scored using P-POSSUM. A subset of these patients with MRSA infection was analysed using P-POSSUM predicted mortality. Physiological and operative severity scores were compared with non-MRSA surgical patients and length of hospital stay with P-POSSUM matched non-MRSA controls. Thirty of the 1,132 patients were MRSA positive and of these five died, giving a P-POSSUM observed/expected deaths ratio of 1.7 (not significant; 95% CI -0.24 to 0.10). The P-POSSUM physiology score of 30 MRSA positive patients, compared with the non-MRSA group (n = 1102), was significantly more severe (20.9 v/s 17.4; 95% CI 1.09 to 5.95) as was the operative severity score (15.6 v/s 9.2; 95% CI 4.40 to 8.42). The length of stay for surviving MRSA positive patients was significantly longer than P-POSSUM matched controls. MRSA infection in surgical patients does not increase mortality. However, patients who contract MRSA infection are more debilitated and have undergone a greater surgical insult.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, U.K.
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Whiteley
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burden
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Galland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D009026:Mortality; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000382:microbiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000009:adverse effects*