[Responsibility of surgeons for surgical site infections].

Surgical site infections can be traced to discrepancies in one specific hospital department: the operating suite. Therefore, prevention is often viewed as resting completely on the surgeon. However, the source of micro-organisms responsible for surgical site infections can be endogenous or exogenous. Most infections are believed to be the former, i.e. caused by micro-organisms already resident in the patient's body. Therefore the surgeon can be regarded as suspect only in exceptional cases and usually himself a victim. Prevention is possible not only for exogenous surgical site infection but also many endogenous infections. A multicenter surveillance of infection rates at 130 operative departments participating for at least 4 years in the German National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System was conducted. A significant 25% reduction in the 3rd year was observed compared with patients who underwent surgery within the 1st year of participation. However, surgeons alone cannot achieve such a decrease, and a team approach is required under most circumstances.