Using surveillance data to direct infection control efforts to reduce surgical-site infections following clean abdominal operations in Japan.

We initiated surveillance for surgical-site infections (SSIs) in a Japanese hospital using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definitions and the approach of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) System. Patients were observed following clean and clean-contaminated abdominal operations. SSI rates were higher than those of the NNIS System, but there was a trend toward decreased SSI rates in the latter half of the study period.