What question did this study set out to answer?

To determine the impact of orthopedic surgical-site infections on patient quality of life, hospitalization duration, readmission frequency, and direct medical costs.

April 1, 2002Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

The Impact of Surgical-Site Infections Following Orthopedic Surgery at a Community Hospital and a University Hospital Adverse Quality of Life, Excess Length of Stay, and Extra Cost

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Authors

JWJ D WhitehouseDuke Medical Center NFN. Deborah FriedmanThe Royal Melbourne Hospital KKKathryn B. KirklandUniversity of Chicago

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Implication

Matched case-control study demonstrates prolonged hospital stays, threefold costs, and reduced quality of life in orthopedic patients, highlighting the heavy burden of surgical-site infections.

Key Points

To determine the impact of orthopedic surgical-site infections on patient quality of life, hospitalization duration, readmission frequency, and direct medical costs.
Conducted a 1:1 pairwise-matched case-control study within a cohort across a university tertiary-care medical center and a community hospital.
Identified 59 surgical-site infection cases and matched each with an uninfected control based on procedure type, National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance risk index, age, surgery date, and surgeon.
Assessed quality of life using the Short Form 36 questionnaire alongside clinical records to track hospital stays, rehospitalizations, direct medical costs, and mortality.
Infected patients experienced a median of 1 extra day during initial hospitalization (P = .001) and 14 extra days throughout the follow-up period (P = .0001).
Surgical-site infections increased median rehospitalizations (2 vs 1; P = .0001), total surgical procedures (2 vs 1; P = .0001), and median direct hospital costs ($24,344 vs $6,636; P = .0001).
Mortality rates were similar between groups, but infected patients exhibited significant reductions in health-related quality of life, particularly in physical functioning and role-physical domains.

Cite This Study

Whitehouse et al. (2002) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/695ea484e224eafb755b3d82 https://doi.org/10.1086/502033

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Implication

Matched case-control study demonstrates prolonged hospital stays, threefold costs, and reduced quality of life in orthopedic patients, highlighting the heavy burden of surgical-site infections.

The Impact of Surgical-Site Infections Following Orthopedic Surgery at a Community Hospital and a University Hospital Adverse Quality of Life, Excess Length of Stay, and Extra Cost

Discussion

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Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

The Impact of Surgical-Site Infections Following Orthopedic Surgery at a Community Hospital and a University Hospital Adverse Quality of Life, Excess Length of Stay, and Extra Cost

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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