International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Clinical PaperAdditional direct medical costs associated with nosocomial infections after head and neck cancer surgery: a hospital-perspective analysis☆
Section snippets
Patients
This study focused on a previously reported cohort of patients with biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aero-digestive tract who underwent surgery between January 1997 and December 199914, 15. Patients of this cohort enrolled in the present study had undergone the following: (i) surgery with curative intent, (ii) procedures involving a neck wound communication with the oral cavity or the oropharynx, and (iii) antibiotic prophylaxis as recommended by the French Consensus
Nosocomial infections
Of the 261 patients enrolled in this study, 94 (36%) developed a SSI and 34 (13%) a PP. The main characteristics of patients with SSI and/or PP and those without were similar (Table 1), but there was a trend towards a longer duration of procedure in patients with infection.
Additional direct medical costs attributable to nosocomial infections
The mean LOS and mean direct medical cost per patient for patients with nosocomial infections and those without are shown in Table 2. Compared to non-infected patients, SSI increased the mean LOS per patient by 16 days and
Discussion
Surgery requiring advanced technology remains the gold standard in treatment with curative intent for head and neck cancer, but leads to high postoperative morbidity, due in particular to SSI and PP12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 27. In the present study, of a cohort of 261 patients, it was estimated that SSI and PP occurred in 94 (36%) and 34 patients (13%), respectively. These estimates are consistent with those reported in other studies16, 19, 23, 27. Secondly, the mean length of stay for patients with
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Presented in part at the 3rd World Congress of the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies, Prague, 27 June–1 July 2006.