OBJECTIVE: To carry out a prospective evaluation of spine surgery infections caused by contamination by the surgeon or some other member of the surgical team. METHODS: After seeing two infections in a row during spine surgery, and detecting that the germ found in the sample cultures coincided with that found in the nose of one of the members of the surgical team, we decided to prospectively implement a series of measures related to scrubbing and handling the surgical mask. We carried out a prospective evaluation from January 2007 to December 2009 of 120 patients who underwent spine surgery carried out by our team. Criteria for inclusion were spine surgery by the posterior route carried out by the same surgical team complying with the measures to be presented. Criteria for exclusion were patients who underwent surgery by the anterior route, laparoscopic and vertebroplasty surgeries, and surgeries in which no member of the surgical team in question was present. RESULTS: Of the 120 spines operated on, infection occurred in three cases in which the corresponding hygiene practices and cultivation and antibiogram of the samples and noses of the members of the surgical team were carried out. In none of the cases was the germ that produced the infection the same as the germ found in the nasal sample of the members of the surgical team. In other words 0% of the contamination was caused by the surgeon. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that the measures adopted in the operating room in relation to scrubbing and handling the surgical mask can reduce spine surgery infections caused by the surgeon.
Vertebral spine/surgery; Transmission of infectious disease from patient to professional; staphylococcal infections; Prospective studies
