Surgical site infections

The graph above shows the quarterly WA Health rate (i.e. the number of infections for every 100 procedures performed) for surgical site infections (SSIs) following primary (i.e. the first time the procedure is performed) hip and knee arthroplasty (replacement surgery) in WA public hospitals.

Current and previous annual rate of knee and hip replacement SSIs by Health Service Provider

Notes:
SSI is one of the most common complications associated with surgery and every patient who undergoes surgery is at risk of acquiring an infection. A patient who develops a SSI will often have a longer hospital stay or be readmitted, require antibiotics to treat the infection, and sometimes require further surgery.

A surveillance program that includes monitoring of SSIs can have an immediate and prolonged impact on reducing infections. WA hospitals share this information with their clinicians and hospital executives and use this information to support improved compliance with infection prevention strategies and to initiate practices to further improve patient outcomes.

WA Health is committed to reducing adverse outcomes arising from the provision of healthcare and it is a compulsory requirement that all WA hospitals that perform hip and knee arthroplasty procedures submit data to the Healthcare Infection Surveillance WA (HISWA) program.

Source
Healthcare Infection Surveillance WA (HISWA), Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Department of Health WA.