Medeiros, Aldo CunhaAires Neto, TertulianoAzevedo, George DantasVilar, Maria José PereiraPinheiro, Laíza Araújo MohanaBrandão Neto, José2013-09-302013-09-302005Medeiros, Aldo Cunha ; Aires Neto, Tertuliano ; Azevedo, George Dantas ; Vilar, Maria José Pereira ; Pinheiro, Laíza Araújo Mohana ; Brandão Neto, José. Surgical site infection in a university hospital in northeast Brazil. The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases, v. 9, n.3, p. 310-314, 2005. Disponível em: <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-86702005000400007> Acesso em: 24 set. 2013.1413-8670https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/1/6301We examined prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) in a tertiary teaching hospital in northeast Brazil, from January 1994 to December 2003. The survey included 5,742 patients subjected to thoracic, urologic, vascular and general surgery. The criteria for diagnosing SSI were those of the Centers for Disease Control, USA, and the variables of the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance risk index were used. Data analysis revealed that anesthetic risk scores, wound class and duration of surgery were significantly associated with SSI. A total of 296 SSIs were detected among the 5,742 patients (5.1%). The overall incidence of SSI was 8.8% in 1994; it decreased to 3.3% in 2003. In conclusion, the use of educational strategies, based on guidelines for SSI prevention reduced SSI incidence. Appropriate management of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative incision care, and a surveillance system based on international criteria, were useful in reducing SSI rates in our hospitalengAcesso AbertoSurgical site infectionRisk factorsSurveillancearticle