Reduction of postoperative infection rate in hip surgery: collaborative effort between orthopedic surgeons and control-of-infection team.

The success of a collaborative program between the ward staff and the control-of-infection team in reducing postoperative infection in patients undergoing hip surgery in a university hospital is described. The program was used to detect infection, to introduce control measures and to evaluate their effectiveness. The infection rate dropped from 25.7 to less than 1.0%, and this low rate was maintained over the 2 1/2 years of follow-up surveillance. The reduction in infection rate was associated with a six-day reduction (22.4%) in the duration of postoperative hospitalization.