Risk factors for surgical site infection in children at the teaching hospital Gabriel Touré, Bamako

A six-month prospective surveillance study of postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs) was undertaken between January and June 2010 in paediatric patients aged <15 years, in the University Hospital Gabriel Touré, Mali. SSI was documented in 43 out of 352 children (12.2%). SSIs were significantly more common after emergency operations, in patients with a National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System (NNISS) score of 2 or 3, and in patients operated on by trainee rather than by experienced surgeons. Children with anaemia or malnutrition were significantly more likely to develop infection postoperatively. Patients' sex, duration of preoperative stay and the number of patients in the hospital room were not considered as risk factors for infection (P>0.05). © 2011 The Healthcare Infection Society.