Integrated surgical instrument management and enhanced perioperative care reduce surgical site infections in abdominal surgery

Objective: To evaluate the preventative effects of integrated operating room–central sterile supply department (OR–CSSD) instrument management combined with enhanced perioperative nursing care on surgical site infections (SSIs) in abdominal surgery. Method: In this prospective, controlled study, patients undergoing abdominal surgery between January and October 2024 were randomly assigned to either a control group receiving standard instrument and nursing care, or an intervention group receiving integrated OR–CSSD instrument management and enhanced perioperative nursing interventions. Key outcomes included SSI incidence within 14 postoperative days, operative time, postoperative white blood cell (WBC) count, length of hospital stay, instrument quality control scores, and nursing safety quality scores. Results: The experimental cohort comprised 148 patients. The intervention group (n=70) demonstrated significantly lower SSI rates (1.4% versus 10.3%, p=0.035), reduced operative time, decreased WBC count on postoperative day 2, and shorter hospital stays compared with the control group (n=78; all p<0.05). Additionally, the intervention group achieved higher scores in both instrument quality control and nursing safety assessments, particularly in environmental management and equipment handling domains. Conclusion: In this study, the integration of OR–CSSD instrument management with enhanced perioperative nursing care significantly reduced SSI rates in abdominal surgery, improved postoperative inflammatory markers, shortened operative and hospitalisation durations, and enhanced the overall quality and safety of surgical care.