Surgical site infections in paediatric otolaryngology operative procedures

Mapping the Risk Factors of Pharyngocutaneous Fistula After Salvage Laryngectomies

To evaluate the postoperative surgical wound infection prevalence rates of patients undergoing SL, identify the causative organism and determine predisposing factors leading to infection. A retrospective study of all consecutive patients who underwent salvage total laryngectomy at our unit between 2015 and 2020 was performed. The following parameters were also analyzed: age, smoking history, pre and postoperative albumin level, history of radio and chemo-radiotherapy, reconstruction with pectoralis flap, intraoperative tracheoesophageal puncture, and tumor stage. A total of 12 of the 21 patients (57%) experienced a postoperative infection after SL during the study period. 82% of those patients whose preoperative albumin level below 3gm/dl developed postoperative infection. There is a significant increase (p < 0.01) in infection in patients with N1 and 2 stage tumor (68%) compared with the N0 stage tumors (40%). Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative albumin and nodal stage were significant risk factors for postoperative infection.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-021-02603-y.

Surgical site infections after pediatric open airway reconstruction-A National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric analysis

Objectives

To determine the rate of surgical site infections (SSI) after pediatric open airway reconstruction using a nationwide database.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric (ACS NSQIP-P) Database.

Methods

The ACS NSQIP-P was queried for open airway surgeries between 2013 and 2019 determining postoperative SSI and wound dehiscence with a random sample of non-airway cases serving as a control group.

Results

A total of 637 laryngotracheoplasties (LTP), 411 tracheal resections (TR) and 2100 control procedures were included. LTP and TR were both performed on younger children with more comorbidities than control surgeries (p < .05). Postoperative wound complications occurred more often after airway reconstructions than non-airway cases (6.4% vs. 2.9%, p < .001). Compared to non-airway procedures, LTP (OR: 2.42, 95% CI: 1.62-3.61) and TR (OR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.28-3.66) developed increased SSI. Multiple logistic regression identified dirty or infected wounds (OR: 4.61, p < .001, 95% CI: 2.35-9.03) and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Class IV (OR: 3.19, p = .02, 95% CI: 1.12-8.39) as the strongest predictors of SSI after airway reconstruction.

Conclusions

SSI after pediatric airway reconstruction occur in 6% of cases and are increased in infected wounds and ASA Class IV surgeries. Recognizing common factors for these complications provide reliable benchmarking to design surgical quality improvement initiatives.

Level of Evidence

4.

Preclinical Validation of a Novel Device Designed to Reduce Biofilms on Percutaneous Osseointegrated Abutments

AIM

To assess the efficacy of a prototype cleaning device in removing biofilm from skin-penetrating abutments.

BACKGROUND

Adverse skin reactions around percutaneous osseointegrated implants have been linked to poor hygiene and infection. A cleaning device made from open-cell polyfoam has been developed to facilitate manual cleaning of abutments by the patient.

METHODS

Serratia biofilm was grown on clean and sterile conical bone-anchored hearing system abutments including both pre-2007 (straight sided) and post-2007 (conical-sided) designs. Eighteen were photographed and then subjected to cleaning using a toothbrush or the cleaning device soaked in water or a proprietary mouthwash. Biofilm on a further group of 10 conical abutments was recorded using a scanning electron microscope before and after cleaning with the test device soaked in water. Quantitative analysis of the efficiency of the cleaning was made using image analysis.

RESULTS

Removal of biofilm using a dry or wet toothbrush was not as effective as cleaning with the device. In 10 cases subjected to image analysis, approximately 90% of the biofilm was removed from the top third of the abutments, 85% from the middle third, and 48% from the basal third.

CONCLUSION

The cleaning device is effective in removing most biofilm from the test abutments and represents a significant improvement in comparison with traditional methods such as a toothbrush.

Surgical Site Infection in Head and Neck Surgery: A National Perspective

OBJECTIVES

To examine trend, prevalence, and outcomes of surgical site infection (SSI) in head and neck surgery.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cross-sectional analysis.

SETTING

The Nationwide Readmissions Database (2010-2014), which represents 56.6% of all US hospitalization.

SUBJECTS

Adult patients (≥18 years) who underwent head and neck surgery. Patients with SSI were compared with controls.

METHODS

Analysis included chi-square test and multivariate logistic and linear regression models.

RESULTS

A total of 427 cases and 116,921 controls were identified. SSI prevalence among patients who underwent head and neck surgery was 0.37%, of which 41.0% was reported within the initial admission while the remaining 59.0% was reported on readmission within 30 days of first surgery. SSI was associated with a higher mortality risk (odds ratio, 3.95; 95% CI, 1.25-12.50; P = .019). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that a higher risk of SSI was associated with major surgery of the ear, nose and paranasal sinuses, mouth and tonsil, salivary glands and ducts, maxillofacial bones and mandible, and pharynx and larynx (P < .05 each). However, a lower risk of SSI was reported in thyroid and parathyroid and nonmajor procedures (P < .05 each). Other factors associated with a higher risk of SSI included multiple comorbidities, smoking, cancer diagnosis, concomitant neck dissection, and tracheostomy (P < .05 each). SSI was associated with a mean ± SE additional hospital stay of 8.1 ± 0.8 days per case (P < .001) and an additional cost on the health system of $20,953.00 ± $186.3 per case (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

SSI is associated with a significant mortality risk and burden on the health system. More than half of SSI cases were identified on readmission.

Innate lymphoid cells: a paradigm for low SSI in cleft lip repair

BACKGROUND

Cleft lip and palate reconstructions demonstrate significantly lower surgical site infection rates compared with clean-contaminated cases, prompting investigation into the pathophysiology causing this discrepancy. Recent studies have identified a new group of innate lymphocytes called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), located in barrier surfaces of the skin, airways, and intestine. Our objectives were to explore for the first time the presence of ILCs in the vermillion of neonates and young children undergoing cleft lip reconstruction and characterize their composition by measuring the three classes of ILCs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Lip tissue samples were collected from 13 subjects undergoing vermillion resection during cleft lip reconstructive surgery. Preparative, transmission electron microscopy, and analytical flow cytometry were performed. The functionality of ILCs was tested in terms of their capacity to produce type 1 (IFN-γ/TNF-α), type 2 (IL-5/IL-13), and type 3 (IL-17/IL-22) cytokines. Data were analyzed using Student t test or the analysis of variance to establish significance (P < 0.05) among groups for all other data.

RESULTS

All three classes of ILCs were detected and visualized in the tissue samples. In all samples, the level of ILC2 subset was significantly higher than the other two ILC subsets (P < 0.01), followed by the ILC1 subset, which was present in significantly higher levels than the ILC3 subset (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data place ILCs for the first time in the interface of oral mucosal immunity, tissue microenvironment, and homeostasis during and after tissue development, possibly explaining lower infection rates in cleft lip or palate reconstructions.