A preliminary study for the development of indices and the current state of surgical site infections (SSIs) in Korea: the Korean Surgical Site Infection Surveillance (KOSSIS) program.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to develop an effective system for surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance and examine the current domestic state of SSIs for common abdominal surgeries in Korea.


METHODS
The Korean Surgical Site Infection Surveillance (KOSSIS) program was developed as an SSI surveillance system. A prospective multicenter study in nine university-affiliated or general hospitals was conducted for patients who underwent gastrectomy, cholecystectomy, appendectomy, colectomy, or proctectomy between August 16 and September 30 in 2012. Patients were monitored for up to 30 days by combining direct observation and a postdischarge surgeon survey. Data on SSIs were prospectively collected with KOSSIS secretarial support according to a common protocol. Operation-specific SSI rates were stratified according to risk factors and compared with data from the Korean Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (KONIS) and National Healthcare Safety Network. A focus group interview was conducted with participating hospitals for feedback.


RESULTS
A total of 1,088 operations were monitored: 207 gastrectomies, 318 cholecystectomies, 270 appendectomies, 197 colectomies, and 96 proctectomies. Operation-specific SSI rates determined by the KOSSIS program were substantially higher than those found in KONIS (7.73% [95% confidence interval, 4.5%-12.3%] vs. 3.4% for gastrectomies, 10.15% [95% confidence interval, 6.1%-15.2%] vs. 4.0% for colectomy, and 13.5% [95% confidence interval, 7.4%-22.0%] vs. 4.2% for proctectomy).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite a short surveillance period and heterogenous group of hospitals, our results suggest that KOSSIS could be a useful program to enhance SSI surveillance in Korea.
Department of Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Sun Jin
SJ
Park
Department of Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kil Yeon
KY
Lee
Department of Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ji Won
JW
Park
Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Jae Gil
JG
Lee
Department of Internal Medicine, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Hee Jung
HJ
Choi
Department of Infection Control, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Hee Kyung
HK
Chun
Department of Surgery, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
Jung Gu
JG
Kang
General surgery; Prevention; Surgical wound infection; Surveillance program