LAUSR

BackgroundThe benefit of an infection prevention bundle made up of five basic procedures to avoid surgical site infections (SSIs) following cranial surgery was evaluated.MethodsData from all patients with first time elective brain surgery from March 2014 till May 2016 were analyzed. In April 2015, an infection prevention bundle was implemented. The rate of SSIs after first time elective cranial surgery of patients operated 1 year before and 1 year after the implementation was compared.ResultsOf the 321 cases operated before the implementation of the infection prevention bundle, 13 cases (4%) developed a SSI. After the implementation, only 6 patients out of 288 were re-operated due to a SSI (2%). The most frequent etiological germ cultivated was Staphylococcus aureus.ConclusionThe implementation of a bundle of 5 basic infection prevention steps leads to a clinical relevant reduction of SSIs.