Risk Factors of Port-Site Infections in Laparoscopic Surgeries

Introduction: Laparoscopic surgery has brought in a paradigm shift in surgery. The ever-expanding applications of laparoscopic surgery have made the study of its complications crucial. Objectives: Our aim was to study the incidence of port-site infection (PSI) in laparoscopic procedures and the associated risk factors. Materials and Methods: A longitudinal observational study was conducted on 96 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgeries for various ailments and were observed for the development of PSIs and the association with the studied risk factors using the Chi-square test. Results: Prolonged duration of surgery (>120 min) was found to have a statistically significant association with increased risk of development of PSI. Obesity, presence of comorbidities and increase in the number of ports also were risk factors that had a statistically significant association with the incidence of PSI. The most common procedure associated with PSI was laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the most common organisms found to be Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli . Conclusion: Proper sterilisation techniques and operation theatre aseptic protocol have brought down the incidence of PSI a great deal. Identification of the other hidden risk factors is vital for the elimination of PSI in laparoscopic surgery.