Resumen

DESPAIGNE ALBA, Izvieta et al. Morbidity and mortality from postoperative infections. Rev Cubana Cir [online]. 2013, vol.52, n.1, pp. 13-24. ISSN 0034-7493.

Introduction: Despite the advances in the surgical and anesthetic techniques and in biotechnology, infections are still increasing the morbidity and mortality of the surgical patients. This paper was intended to determine the mortality and the morbidity caused by post-surgical infections depending on some factors that influence their occurrence. Methods: A cross-sectional, observational and descriptive study of 207 hospitalized patients, who had undergone major surgeries and had presented with postoperative infections at the general surgery service of "Saturnino Lora" provincial teaching hospital of Santiago de Cuba from 2008 to 2010. Results: The global postsurgical infection rate was 4.6 % whereas that of the clean wounds was 1.6 %. The number of emergency surgeries and their global postoperative infection rate exceeded the figures of the elective surgeries. The most frequent were the superficial incisional infections followed by those found in organs and interstices. The surgical time and the length of stay at hospital, as average, increased in infected patients. Sixteen patients of the casuistry group died, for a mortality rate of 7.7 %, mainly due to generalized infection and septic shock. Conclusions: The level of pollution and the type of surgery were significantly related to the occurrence of postsurgical infections, although both can also be affected by the chemical and epidemiological characteristics of the patients and the length of surgical time. The postsurgical infection rates in general and that of the clean wounds in particular were regarded as acceptable, as well as the mortality rates were considered low if compare to the domestic and foreign reports on the same topic.

Palabras clave : morbidity; postsurgical-postoperative infections; infection of the operative-surgical site; deep superficial incisional infection; organ/interstice infection.