Prospective Surveillance Effectively Reduced Rates of Surgical Site Infection Associated With Elective Colorectal Surgery at a University Hospital in Japan

At a university hospital in Japan, the introduction of prospective surveillance and subsequent interventions was effective in reducing the rate of surgical site infection associated with elective colorectal surgery from 27.5% to 17.8% of surgeries. Japan should both recognize the importance of broader surveillance for surgical site infection and establish its own nationwide surveillance database.