Preventing surgical site infections in patients undergoing spine surgery isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, according to researchers at the University of Washington.
For their research, they looked at 351 infections that developed within 90 days of surgery. These infections were found in a total of 6,727 surgeries performed between January 2011 and June 2019. Researchers said the bacteria found in one level of the spine was often different from the bacteria found in other levels of the spine, suggesting that the same infection mitigation strategies during surgery may not prove effective in preventing SSIs.
“The bacterial causes of spine SSI differed dramatically by operative level, with Staphylococcal infections predominating in cervical and upper thoracic procedures and gram-negative infections causing a disproportionate number of lumbosacral infections,” researchers wrote. “The majority of infections were resistant to the surgical antibiotic prophylaxis administered during the procedure, following a similar anatomic pattern.”
Preventing Spinal Infections
So while researchers were able to identify that the bacteria driving these infections tended to differ based on the spinal level where the procedure was being performed, they didn’t have answers as to why this difference in bacteria type existed. They believe that bacteria on different areas of the skin differ and could be the reason behind why spinal levels can develop different infection patterns.
Perhaps more interesting was the fact that 57.5 percent of infections were resistant to the infection preventions administered during the procedure. In other words, surgeons were working to prevent infections, but the bacteria remained despite these preventative actions. Needless to say, spine surgeons really need to work to improve their surgical site infection prevention techniques, and they need to adjust as we get a better understanding of prophylaxis-resistant bacteria.
Dr. Sinicropi uses a myriad of sterilization techniques to help prevent the entrance of bacteria into a wound site during surgery, and that’s why his infection rate is consistently below the national average. He also knows that just because a system is effective now, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement, especially as bacteria evolves.
So if you want your spinal procedure performed by a surgeon who not only works hard every day to prevent spinal infection, but also consistently educates himself on the most advanced sterilization techniques, trust your procedure to Dr. Sinicropi and his team at Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today.
