The effects of COVID-19 pandemic on surgical site infections after abdominal surgery

Surgical site infections are one of the most important factors that increase morbidity and length of stay, especially after abdominal surgical procedures. With the COVID-19 pandemic, serious isolation and contact measures have been taken in hospital clinics in Turkey and all over the world. The aim of this study is to compare the rate of surgical site infection in patients who underwent abdominal surgery between March 15, 2020 and May 31, 2020 in Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, General Surgery Clinic, and patients who underwent abdominal surgery between the same dates a year ago. The features were examined with the SSI between the two periods. A statistically significant difference was found between the patients who were operated on before and during the pandemic in terms of smoking status (p=0.020), urgency of surgery (p=0.001) and chemotherapy receiving status (p=0.002). A statistically significant difference was not recorded between patients with and without surgical site infection in terms of the season in which the operation was performed, the surgery over the previous incision, the type of operation, the urgency of the operation and the presence of a drain. The precautions taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic do not change the risk of developing SSI after abdominal surgery. In preventing the risk of SSI, the factors related to the wound and the patient, which have been defined before, are at the forefront.