SSIs in Italy: Prevention and Surveillance during the Last Five Years

Abstract

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are recognized as a common surgical complication, occurring in about 2% - 5% of all surgical procedures. For this reason, it is the second most common nosocomial infection, representing the 19.6% of all infections observed in hospitalized patients and 38% of those observed among surgical patients. Among SSIs prevention strategies, surveillance has been proved to be very incisive. The most recent surveillance study carried out at a national level in Italy is SNICh protocol ( National Surveillance System of Surgical Site Infections), which analyses data received from 127 Italian hospitals, from the 2009 to 2011 and the entire 2013. The only application of a surveillance strategy, observing the recommended prophylaxis protocols, brought to a reduction of SSIs: their incidence has been shown to be comparable to European or American one. Furthermore, recent studies have brought strong evidence that the development of new devices, such as dressings impregnated with silver nanoparticles or triclosan-coated sutures, is strongly connected with the reduction of incidence of SSIs. In conclusion, if common preventive techniques were applied to all surgical procedures performed in the country, about 14,000 SSIs per year could be avoided with a possible savings after three years between 50 million and EUR 175 million euro.