Use of infectious diseases consultation by surgeons

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the use of infectious diseases consultation in the management of surgical site infections (SSIs) by surgeons. A cross-sectional, countrywide survey study was performed using a standardized data collection form. The form included questions about surgeons’ institutions, specialties, and infectious disease (ID) consultation usage by surgeons in treatment of SSIs. Totally 326 surgeons from six different specialties at 36 hospitals in 12 cities in Turkey were included into the study. In the diagnosis of SSIs, 285 of the surgeons (87.2%) used culture procedures, 90 (27.5%) Gram stain, and 64 (19.6%) ID consultation. On multivariate analysis, being general surgeons (P= .000), gynecologists (P= .017) and urologist (P= .002) were found significant factors for less usage of ID consultation in the treatment of SSIs. Only working at teaching hospitals was significant predictor for more usage of ID consultation in the treatment of SSIs (P= .008). There is a tendency among surgeons about common use culture facilities and rarely ID consultation for management of SSIs.