SAN DIEGO – Conducting preoperative nasal screening and decolonization of Staphylococcus aureus in patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery led to a significant reduction in the rate of all sternal surgical site infections, including those attributable to S. aureus, results from a large single-center study showed.
"Staphylococcus aureus sternal surgical site infections [SSIs] are associated with significant morbidity and mortality," lead researcher Jennifer Madigan said in an interview following IDWeek 2012, the combined annual meetings of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medicine Association, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. "Multiple studies in the past have shown that screening and decolonization of S. aureus carriers are associated with a reduction in sternal SSIs."
Jennifer Madigan
One recent intervention that identified S. aureus nasal carriers concluded that S. aureus SSIs can be reduced by rapid screening and decolonization of nares on hospital admission (N. Engl. J. Med. 2010;362:9-17). "This study used [polymerase chain reaction testing] for identification of S. aureus nasal carriers, followed by treatment with mupirocin nasal ointment and chlorhexidine soap," said Ms. Madigan of the department of infection prevention and control at St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit. "The results showed more than a 50% reduction in S. aureus infections."
Ms. Madigan and her associates compared the SSI rates 57 months before and 24 months after initiation of an S. aureus decolonization program for cardiothoracic surgery patients. For this program S. aureus nasal carriers were decolonized with mupirocin nasal ointment daily for 5 days and were asked to bathe with chlorhexidine gluconate rinse for 5 days immediately before surgery. The researchers reported results from 580 patients who were screened from April 2010 through March 2012. Of these patients, 118 (20%) tested positive for S. aureus colonization, including 34 (6%) who tested positive for methicillin-resistant S. aureus.
After the S. aureus decolonization program was initiated, the rate of postoperative sternal SSIs following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) decreased by 65% (from 76 infections per 1,416 cases before screening to 8 infections per 427 cases after screening; P = .0019), with a 75% drop in the number of mediastinitis cases (from 39 infections per 1,416 cases before screening to 3 infections per 427 cases after screening; P = .0106).
The researchers also found that sternal SSIs attributable to S. aureus dropped by 82% (from 39 infections per 1,416 cases before screening to 2 infections per 427 cases after screening; P = .0044), with S. aureus mediastinitis dropping by 87% (from 21 infections per 1,416 cases before screening to 1 infection per 427 cases after screening; P = .0337).
"We encourage hospitals that perform CABG surgeries to incorporate this [decolonization program] into their process," Ms. Madigan said. "The program is associated with significant reductions in infection, morbidity, and mortality. It provides a great tool to reduce the risk of patient harm. In addition, this may have a positive financial impact on hospitals as mediastinitis is no longer a reimbursable condition."
Ms. Madigan said that she had no relevant financial conflicts.