Dong Wang,1,2,* Yan Zhang,1,2,* Jinlin Wu1,2 

1Department of Medical Affairs, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Jinlin Wu, Department of Medical Affairs, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 20 section 3, South Renmin Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-28-85503960, Email 373053785@qq.com

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the commonly reported nosocomial infections. Previous studies of SSI prevention have focused on patient characteristics. Relevant studies that consider both patient characteristics and seasonality are rare. This study investigated the independent risk factors associated with surgical site infections in patients undergoing gynecologic and obstetric surgeries in different seasons to determine whether the results showing increases in SSIs by season could be reproduced.
Methods: Medical records of 185 patients with SSIs among 201,912 patients who underwent gynecologic and obstetric surgeries at a hospital in southwestern China from September 2013 to June 2021 were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with SSIs in patients undergoing gynecologic and obstetric surgeries in different seasons.
Results: Heart disease and the amount of intraoperative blood loss were the suspicious seasonal factors associated with SSIs. SSIs were more likely to occur in the patients with intraoperative blood loss ≥ 500 mL in spring and winter but were more likely to occur in the patients with intraoperative blood loss < 500 mL in autumn.
Conclusion: More attention should be paid to maintaining patient temperature during surgery, improving surgical skills, and standardizing aseptic techniques to prevent SSIs.

Keywords: gynecologic surgical procedures, obstetric surgical procedures, surgical wound infection, seasons