Surgical Site Infection Rate After Intra-Abdominal Surgery Using Negative Pressure Wound Therapy at Initial Closure

Study Summary

The goal of this study is to present a large single-institution experience reporting surgical site infection rates in patients who have undergone intra-abdominal surgery followed by wound closure with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy. A retrospective review of patients' charts will be conducted to analyze surgical site infection rates between wound closure with and without Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT). American College of Surgeons National Quality Improvement Program data from previous standard of care (primary closure after colorectal surgery) will be used for comparison with newly adopted standard of care treatment regimen (wound closure with NPWT). Data on patients who underwent intra-abdominal surgery will be retrospectively collected and a database will be created. These individuals will be identified through medical records and recontacted by mail and/or phone to collect study data. Finally, patients newly referred to the Principal Investigator for intra-abdominal surgery will be enrolled in the database. After giving informed consent, data on surgical site infection rates and outcomes will be collected. Longitudinal outcomes will be assessed at 30 days, 6 months, and 12 months post-operatively. These patients' outcomes will be compared to a group of patients treated by the Principal Investigator who also underwent intra-abdominal surgery without Negative Pressure Wound Therapy. We hypothesize that fewer patients treated with negative pressure wound therapy following intra-abdominal surgery will develop surgical site infections than patients who had intra-abdominal surgery but were not treated with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy.