Surgical Site Infections

A surgical site infection (SSI) occurs at the site of a surgical incision (cut). Germs can sometimes get into the incision and cause an infection. An infection can occur any time after surgery, but it most commonly develops shortly afterward, usually within 30 days of an operation. Sometimes infections can occur much later, especially if an implant (such as a joint replacement) is used.

SSIs are among the most common health-care-associated infections. SSIs can be minor, but occasionally they can result in a longer length of stay in the hospital or lead to readmission to the hospital. As a patient, you can help reduce your chance of infection by following all of the preoperative instructions given to you by your surgeon and health-care team and by not shaving the area where the incision will be made.

More patient-specific information is available at:

Health Quality Ontario

Patient and Family Centered Care

Clean hands protect lives

For some operations, such as joint replacements, giving an antibiotic just before surgery is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of infection. This indicator ensures that one of the most important steps in preventing SSIs is being used – that is, ensuring that antibiotics are administered at the right time, just before a hip or knee joint replacement surgery.

The public reporting of this indicator will reveal the percentage of all first-time hip and knee replacement surgery patients who get antibiotics at the right time, just before joint replacement surgery. It is important to note that this indicator does not measure actual surgical site infections.

Surgical site infection (SSI) prevention percentages

All hospitals that perform hip or knee joint replacement surgery must publicly report the SSI Prevention indicator data. These Ontario hospitals are posting their quarterly SSI Prevention percentages for their facility, using the following formula:

Surgical site prevention rates at The Ottawa Hospital