Pre-operative urinary tract infection: is it a risk factor for early surgical site infection with hip fracture surgery? A retrospective analysis

OBJECTIVE: The aims of the current study were to determine whether pre-operative urinary tract infections in patients presenting acutely with neck of femur fractures resulted in a delay to surgery and whether such patients were at increased risk of developing post-operative surgical site infections. DESIGN: A retrospective review of all patients presenting with a neck of femur fracture, at a single centre over a one-year period. The hospital hip fracture database was used as the main source of data. SETTING: UK University Teaching Hospital PARTICIPANTS: All patients (n = 460) presenting across a single year study period with a confirmed hip fracture. OUTCOME MEASURES: The presence of pre-operative urinary tract infection, the timing of surgical intervention, the occurrence of post-operative surgical site infection and the pathogens identified. RESULTS: A total of 367 patients were operated upon within 24 hours of admission. Urinary infections were the least common cause of delay. A total of 99 patients (21.5%) had pre-operative urinary tract infection. Post-operatively, a total of 57 (12.4%) patients developed a surgical site infection. Among the latter, 31 (54.4%) did not have a pre-operative urinary infection, 23 (40.4%) patients had a pre-operative urinary tract infection, 2 had chronic leg ulcers and one patient had a pre-operative chest infection. Statistically, there was a strong relationship between pre-operative urinary tract infection and the development of post-operative surgical site infection (p-value: 0.0005). CONCLUSION: The results of our study indicate that pre-operative urinary tract infection has a high prevalence amongst those presenting with neck of femur fractures, and this is a risk factor for the later development of post-operative surgical site infection.