Surgical site infections in neurosurgery

Background: Surgical site infections in neurosurgery are serious due to their proximity to the central nervous system and their management is a challenge. The aim of our work is to report surgical site infections (SSI) in patients who underwent brain or spinal surgery and to describe their characteristics. Materials and method: We conducted a retrospective study involving patients who underwent surgery in our facility's neurosurgical emergency department over 5 years from January 2015 to December 2019. The data were collected from medical hospital and follow-up records. Results: Fifty-eight cases of SSI were identified out of 2889 operations in total, for a frequency of 2%. The series consisted of 36 men (62.07%) and 22 women (37.93%). The average age was 43.9 years (19-72 years). 46 patients (79.31%) had undergone urgent surgery and 12 patients (20.69%) for delayed surgery. 40 patients (68.97%) had undergone cranial intervention and 18 patients (31.03%) underwent spinal surgery. The identified germ was Staphylococcus aureus in 13 cases (76.48%). Mortality was 13.8% (8 out of 58 cases). Conclusion: The majority of microorganisms that cause the infections contaminate the surgical site intraoperatively. Preventive measures can reduce the rate of surgical site infections.