Anaya et al developed a simple score for predicting the risk of a surgical site infection after cancer surgery. This can help to identify a patient who may benefit from more aggressive management. The authors are from Michael E. Debakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Patient selection: oncology patient undergoing surgery
Outcome: surgical site infection (SSI)
Parameters:
(1) preoperative chemotherapy
(2) duration of surgery in hours
(3) incision site
(4) wound class (clean vs clean-contaminated)
Parameter
Finding
Points
preoperative chemotherapy
no
0
yes
1
operative time
< 2 hours
0
2 to 3.99 hours
1
>= 4 hours
2
incision site
groin
3
other
0
wound class
clean
0
clean-contaminated
1
where:
• Table 3 indicates that an incision site in the head and neck was associated with a reduced risk for SSI.
total score =
= SUM(points for all 4 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 7
• The higher the score the greater the risk for a surgical site infection.
Total Score
Risk Category
Risk SSI
0
low
9%
1 or 2
intermediate
20 to 30%
3 or 4
high
40 to 55%
5 to 7
very high
>= 55%
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve is 0.70.
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