Infecção de sítio cirúrgico em cirurgia cardíaca: a follow-up pilot study

Abstract

Introduction: It is estimated that patients who develop infectious complications after myocardial revascularization generate an additional cost of R$ 37,007.95 in hospitalization for the Unified Health System. Several risk factors contribute to the development of surgical site infection, including intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The prevention of this infection plays a fundamental role in the context of the safety of patients undergoing myocardial revascularization. To reduce the incidence of infection, it is crucial to implement good practice measures consisting of evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to understand the factors that influence the development of surgical site infection and adherence to preventive measures in coronary artery bypass grafting in order to develop strategies aimed at reducing these incidences concomitantly with increasing the adherence of health professionals to preventive measures. Objective: to analyze adherence to surgical site infection prevention measures and the incidence of surgical site infections in coronary artery bypass graft surgeries. Method: observational, longitudinal study, carried out between September 2022 and May 2023 with 43 patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery, using a collection instrument structured in three parts: Sociodemographic and Clinical Characterization, Perioperative Safety Checklist, and Incidence of Postoperative Surgical Site Infection. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis, in addition to calculating adherence and incidence. Results: the mean score of adherence to recommended practices was 71.18% (s=3.15). Among the participants, 24 (55.8%) had SSIs, of which ten (23.3%) required rehospitalization and three (7.0%) patients died. Conclusion: because these are avoidable complications, it is necessary to adopt strategies for SSI prevention, such as continuous training of the team, the review and implementation of protocols based on scientific evidence in clinical practice, and the active monitoring of infections in the postoperative period, in order to promote safety and optimize clinical outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.