Surgical Site Infection in Cancer Patients

Surgical site infection (SSI) incidence is affected by 3 types of interacting factors: the infecting organisms (eg, number, type, virulence), the local wound environment (eg, foreign matter, aseptic technique, wound dressings), and systemic host defenses (eg, smoking, obesity, diabetes). Cancer or related chemotherapy and other aspects of cancer care may affect host defenses, as evidenced by increased SSI risk following “clean” surgery to remove breast cancer tissue compared with similar “clean” surgeries in patients who do not have cancer. If patient risk factors for development of an SSI are strictly controlled in individuals undergoing breast cancer surgery, the likelihood of the development of an SSI drops sharply, creating the illusion that preoperative antibiotics are not needed. This Evidence Corner, which includes 2 studies, clarifies evidence supporting the use of recognized preoperative antibiotic administration to support host defenses in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. In the first study, the controversy about wound dressings following cancer surgery is also explored. Some surgeons question whether routine use of gauze dressings promotes the ideal local wound environment after surgical excision of cancerous tissue. Disintegrating gauze strands can act as foreign bodies in wounds, and gauze dressings have been reported to increase SSI incidence in clean surgical wounds. The second study compared healing and SSI incidence of Mohs surgical excisions dressed with either an antibiotic-free, film-forming silicone wound dressing or a triple antibiotic primary dressing following Mohs micrographic or non-Mohs dermatologic surgery. The surprising results reinforce the importance of the local wound environment as a key factor in minimizing SSI in oncologic surgery.