Risk factors of postoperative infection in head and neck surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Patients undergoing head and neck oncological surgery are at great risk of developing complications following surgery. It is important to clarify risk factors contributing to operative wound infections.

METHODS: Two hundred and nine cases with head and neck tumor (87 female, and 122 male, averaged 58.6 years old) were studied at Mie University Hospital within a 24-month interval, during 2002 and 2003.

RESULTS: Twenty-one (10.0%) surgical site infections (SSIs) were recorded. Univariate analysis revealed that the following factors were significantly related to SSI: blood loss, previous chemotherapy, clean-contaminated surgery, tracheotomy, malignant tumor, advanced T-stage, flap reconstruction, and long operative time. Multivariate analysis showed that blood loss, previous chemotherapy, and the type of surgery contributed to SSI. Otherwise, the following factors did not show any significant correlations: age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, diabetes, sex, previous radiotherapy, N-stage or ASA score.

CONCLUSIONS: In order to minimize postoperative wound infection, clinicians managing the head and neck tumor patients should have a thorough understanding of the risk factors leading to postoperative infections such as blood loss, previous chemotherapy, and clean-contaminated surgery.