Alysha Crocker1, Anna Kornilo2, John Conly3, Elizabeth Henderson4, Elissa Rennert-May5, Jenine Leal6. 1. Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Infection Prevention and Control, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: alysha.crocker@ahs.ca. 2. Infection Prevention and Control, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Science & Technology, Athabasca University, Calgary, Alberta. 3. Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Pathology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; O'Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 4. Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Infection Prevention and Control, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 5. Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 6. Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Infection Prevention and Control, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a serious and costly post-op complication. Generating SSI rates often requires labor-intensive methods, but increasing numbers of publications reported SSI rates using administrative data. METHODS: Index laminectomy and spinal fusion procedures were identified using Canadian Classification of Health Interventions (CCI) procedure codes for inpatients and outpatients in the province of Alberta, Canada between 2008 and 2015. SSIs occurring in the year postsurgery were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Canada (ICD-10-CA) diagnosis and CCI procedure codes indicative of post-op infection. Rates of SSIs and case characteristics were reported. RESULTS: Over the 8-year study period, 21,222 index spinal procedures were identified of which 12,027 (56.7%) were laminectomy procedures, with 322 SSIs identified, an SSI rate of 2.7 per 100 procedures. Of the 9,195 (43.3%) fusion procedures, 298 were identified as an SSI, an SSI rate of 3.2 per 100 procedures. This study found SSI rates increased from 2008 and 2015, and rates were the highest in the 0-18 year age group. CONCLUSIONS: The rates reported in this study were similar to published SSI rates using traditional surveillance methods, suggesting administrative data may be a viable method for reporting SSI rates following spinal procedures. Further work is needed to validate SSIs identified using administrative data by comparing to traditional surveillance.
OBJECTIVE: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a serious and costly post-op complication. Generating SSI rates often requires labor-intensive methods, but increasing numbers of publications reported SSI rates using administrative data. METHODS: Index laminectomy and spinal fusion procedures were identified using Canadian Classification of Health Interventions (CCI) procedure codes for inpatients and outpatients in the province of Alberta, Canada between 2008 and 2015. SSIs occurring in the year postsurgery were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Canada (ICD-10-CA) diagnosis and CCI procedure codes indicative of post-op infection. Rates of SSIs and case characteristics were reported. RESULTS: Over the 8-year study period, 21,222 index spinal procedures were identified of which 12,027 (56.7%) were laminectomy procedures, with 322 SSIs identified, an SSI rate of 2.7 per 100 procedures. Of the 9,195 (43.3%) fusion procedures, 298 were identified as an SSI, an SSI rate of 3.2 per 100 procedures. This study found SSI rates increased from 2008 and 2015, and rates were the highest in the 0-18 year age group. CONCLUSIONS: The rates reported in this study were similar to published SSI rates using traditional surveillance methods, suggesting administrative data may be a viable method for reporting SSI rates following spinal procedures. Further work is needed to validate SSIs identified using administrative data by comparing to traditional surveillance.