title: Surgical site infection rates in 4 cities in Colombia: findings of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a threat to patient safety. However, there are no available data on SSI rates stratified by surgical procedure (SP) in Colombia.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2008-December 2010, a prospective surveillance study on SSIs was conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) in 4 hospitals in 4 cities within Colombia using the definitions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN). SPs were classified into 10 types, according to ICD-9 criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We recorded 193 SSIs associated with 5,063 SPs. SSI rates per type of SP were the following, compared with INICC and CDC-NHSN rates, respectively: 9.1% for laminectomy (vs 1.7% and 1.0%), 8.3% for cardiac surgery (vs 5.6% and 1.3%), 3.9% for appendix surgery (vs 2.9% and 1.4%), 5.5% for abdominal hysterectomy (vs 2.7% and 1.6%), 4.4% for prostate surgery (vs 2.1% and 1.2%), 4.5% for spleen surgery (vs 5.6% and 2.3%), 4.3% for vaginal hysterectomy (vs 2.0% and 0.9%), and 3.0% for gallbladder surgery (vs 2.5% and 0.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with CDC-NHSN rates, SSIs rates in our study hospitals were higher in most types of SPs, whereas compared with INICC, they were similar in 5 of the analyzed types, and higher in 4 types. This study represents an important advance toward knowledge of epidemiology in Colombia that will allow us to introduce targeted interventions.
authors.affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Moreno
authors.affiliation: Clínica Central del Quindio, Armenia, Colombia.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pérez-Fernández
authors.affiliation: International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Electronic address: victor_rosenthal@inicc.org.
authors.forename: Victor D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.affiliation: IPS Universitaria, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quintero
authors.affiliation: Hospital San Vicente de Arauca, Arauca, Colombia.
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chapeta-Parada
authors.affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linares
authors.affiliation: Clínica Central del Quindio, Armenia, Colombia.
authors.forename: Iván Francisco
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Pinilla-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Clínica Central del Quindio, Armenia, Colombia.
authors.forename: Paula Andrea
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Martínez-Saleg
authors.affiliation: IPS Universitaria, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sierra
authors.affiliation: Hospital San Vicente de Arauca, Arauca, Colombia.
authors.forename: Andrés Eduardo
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Mindiola-Rochel
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Developing countries; Health care-associated infection; Hospital infection; Limited resources countries; Network; Surgical wound infection; low income countries