• Julia Koch, Selin Saydan, Frank Schwab, Aminaa Sanchin, Sonja Hansen, Andrej Trampuz, Donara Margaryan, Peter Vajkoczy, and Julia Sophie Onken.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Charite - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universitat Berlin, Humboldt-Universit;t zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin , Germany.
• Neurosurgery. 2023 Oct 1; 93 (4): 835846835-846.

BackgroundSurgical site infections (SSIs) account for one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections. Bundle approaches for infection prevention and control do not capture the full complexity of neurosurgical interventions.ObjectiveTo study the efficacy of an interdisciplinary infection prevention and control bundle (IPCB) in neurosurgery.MethodsThis was a prospective, single-center, observational study, analyzing 3 periods: before (2014), during (2017), and after (2019) full implementation of IPCB. IPCB included the following infection prevention measures: preoperative decolonization, patient engagement, operating room (OR) hygiene protocol, and pre-, peri-, and postoperative standard operating procedures (SOPs) while infection control measures included intraoperative sonication, blood culture inoculation, and interdisciplinary SSI management. All neurosurgical patients being readmitted to the hospital for SSIs within 90 days after receiving index surgery were included in the trial (403/9305).ResultsImplementation of IPCB resulted in more frequently succeeded pathogen isolation in patients with SSI (2014: 138 isolates in 105 (83%) patients with SSI, 2017: 169 isolates in 124 (91%) patients with SSI, and 2019: 199 isolates in 136 (97%) patients with SSI; P < .001). Proportion of gram-positive SSI and virulence was declining ( P = .041, P = .007). The number of repeated revision surgeries decreased from 26 (20%) in 2014 and 31 (23%) in 2017 to 18 (13%) in 2019 ( P = .085). Significantly, fewer patients experienced sepsis in response to SSI (2014: 12%, 2017: 10%, and 2019: 3.6%, P = .035). In-hospital mortality rate was declining from 12 (9.4%) in 2014 to 9 (6.6%) in 2017 to 5 (3.6%) in 2019 ( P = .148).ConclusionIntroducing an interdisciplinary IPCB in neurosurgery leads to a significant reduction of sepsis and decreased in-hospital mortality while a pathogen switch toward gram-negative bacteria was observed. Minimizing diagnostic gap of pathogen detection toward a more efficient anti-infective treatment may be the main reason for the substantial decrease in morbidity and mortality.Copyright © Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2023. All rights reserved.

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