The Incidence of Surgical Site Infection following Emergency Neurosurgical Operations in a Neurosurgical Unit in Kaduna, Nigeria

The incidence of neurosurgical site infection is usually low. However when it occurs, the morbidity and mortality is very high. The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of Surgical Site Infection (SSI) following emergency neurosurgical operations in a new neurosurgical unit in Kaduna north-western Nigeria. Data were prospectively collected on Microsoft excel spreadsheet at a new neurosurgical centre in Kaduna, Nigeria from February 2015 to September 2017. Preoperative and post-operative information were collected. The surveillance for NSSIs was done by the authors both as an in-patient and outpatient over 30 days postoperatively. Patients who had NSSIs were noted. The type, location and impact were determined. The organism involved was identified. The data obtained were analysed using SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 17.0. Chicago: SPSS Inc. A total of 120 patients had 136 emergency neurosurgical operations during the study period. The most common procedure was burr hole for chronic subdural hematoma followed by craniotomy for trauma. The incidence of neurosurgical SSIs was 1.47%. The two patients had craniotomy for evacuation of acute epidural haematoma following open head injury. The patients had surgeries on the 5th day after injury due to financial constraints. One of the 2 patients was a known diabetic. The patient had prolonged convalescent period due to the neurosurgical SSI. The incidence of NSSI in this study is 1.47% and factors such as open head injury, wound class, presence of diabetes mellitus and delay before surgery may be risk factors for neurosurgical SSIs