Staphylococcal decolonization to prevent surgical site infection: Is there a role in colorectal surgery?

OBJECTIVE: We implemented a preoperative staphylococcal decolonization protocol for colorectal surgeries if efforts to further reduce surgical site infections (SSIs). DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. SETTING: Tertiary-care, academic medical center. PATIENTS: Adult patients who underwent colorectal surgery, as defined by National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), between July 2015 and June 2020. Emergent cases were excluded. METHODS: Simple and multivariable logistic regression were performed to evaluate the relationship between decolonization and subsequent SSI. Other predictive variables included age, sex, body mass index, procedure duration, American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score, diabetes, smoking, and surgical oncology service. RESULTS: In total, 1,683 patients underwent nonemergent NHSN-defined colorectal surgery, and 33.7% underwent the staphylococcal decolonization protocol. SSI occurred in 92 (5.5%); 53 were organ-space infections and 39 were superficial wound infections. We detected no difference in overall SSIs between those decolonized and not decolonized (P = .17). However, superficial wound infections were reduced in the group that received decolonization versus those that did not: 7 (1.2%) of 568 versus 32 (2.9%) of 1,115 (P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Staphylococcal decolonization may prevent a subset of SSIs in patients undergoing colorectal surgery.