Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T22:33:23.415Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Use of Diagnosis Codes and/or Wound Culture Results for Surveillance of Surgical Site Infection after Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Margaret A. Olsen*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
Victoria J. Fraser
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
*
Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8051, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110 ([email protected])

Abstract

We compared surveillance of surgical site infection (SSI) after major breast surgery by using a combination of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes and microbiology-based surveillance. The sensitivity of the coding algorithm for identification of SSI was 87.5%, and the sensitivity of wound culture for identification of SSI was 78.1%. Our results suggest that SSI surveillance can be reliably performed using claims data.

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Olsen, MA, Lefta, M, Dietz, JR, et al.Risk factors for surgical site infection after major breast operation. J Am Coll Surg 2008;207:326335.Google Scholar
2.Olsen, MA, Chu-Ongsakul, S, Brandt, KE, Dietz, JR, Mayfield, J, Fraser, VJ. Hospital-associated costs due to surgical site infection after breast surgery. Arch Surg 2008;143:5360.Google Scholar
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surgical site infection (SSI) event. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/PDFs/pscManual/9pscSSIcurrent.pdf. Published February 2010. Accessed May 5, 2009.Google Scholar
4.Fisher, ES, Whaley, FS, Krushat, WM, et al.The accuracy of Medicare's hospital claims data: progress has been made, but problems remain. Am J Public Health 1992;82:243248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Sherman, ER, Heydon, KH, St John, KH, et al.Administrative data fail to accurately identify cases of healthcare-associated infection. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2006;27:332337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Stevenson, KB, Khan, Y, Dickman, J, et al.Administrative coding data, compared with CDC/NHSN criteria, are poor indicators of health care-associated infections. Am J Infect Control 2008;36:155164.Google Scholar
7.Best, WR, Khuri, SF, Phelan, M, et al.Identifying patient preoperative risk factors and postoperative adverse events in administrative databases: results from the Department of Veterans Affairs National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. J Am Coll Surg 2002;194:257266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Yokoe, DS, Noskin, GA, Cunningham, SM, et al.Enhanced identification of postoperative infections among inpatients. Emerg Infect Dis 2004;10:19241930.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Hebden, J, Roghmann, MC. Use of ICD-9-CM coding as a case-finding method for sternal wound infections after CABG procedures. Am J Infect Control 2000;28:202203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Cadwallader, HL, Toohey, M, Linton, S, Dyson, A, Riley, TV. A comparison of two methods for identifying surgical site infection following orthopaedic surgery. J Hosp Infect 2001;48:261266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Spolaore, P, Pellizzer, G, Fedeli, U, et al.Linkage of microbiology reports and hospital discharge diagnoses for surveillance of surgical site infections. 7 Hosp Infect 2005;60:317320.Google Scholar
12.Bolon, MK, Hooper, D, Stevenson, KB, et al.Improved surveillance for surgical site infections after orthopedic implantation procedures: extending applications for automated data. Clin Infect Dis 2009;48:12231229.Google Scholar
13.Baker, C, Luce, J, Chenoweth, C, Friedman, C. Comparison of case-finding methodologies for endometritis after cesarean section. Am J Infect Control 1995;23:2733.Google Scholar