title: Prospective surgical site infection surveillance in dogs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To 1) describe the incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) in dogs undergoing surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College Health Sciences Centre; 2) describe and compare procedure-specific SSI rates; and 3) identify factors associated with development of SSI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, cohort study
  
  
  METHODS
  Dogs (n = 846) undergoing surgery during 45 weeks (September 2010-July 2011).
  
  
  METHODS
  Follow-up telephone conversation with dog owners was performed 30 days postoperatively, with additional 1-year follow-up performed for cases with surgical implants. A standardized questionnaire was administered to detect and characterize SSI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SSI were identified in 26 (3.0%) dogs; 11 (42%) were classified as superficial SSI, whereas 13 were deep, and 2 were organ/space. Of the confirmed SSI, only 17 (65%) were documented in the medical records. Hypotension (P = .011), class of surgery (P = .029), and use of an implant (P = .001) increased the risk of SSI. Microbial cultures were submitted for 19 cases (73%) and of those, 74% were staphylococci.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SSI can result in devastating consequences in dogs and understanding risk factors is critical to target prevention practices. Whereas some risk factors such as hypotension are modifiable, others such as class of surgery are not. When possible, active surveillance should be used as part of a hospital infection control program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology.
authors.forename: Ryen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: Ameet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: J Scott
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Weese
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000662:veterinary*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000592:standards