Magnitude and determinants of surgical site infecion among women underwent cesarean section in Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital Mekelle City, Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia, 2016

The surgical site infection (SSI) case was identified using the definition provided by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) United States of America (USA) which states that infection is regarded as SSI if it occurs within 30 days of the procedure and has at least one of the following sign and symptoms: purulent drainage from the wound, pain or tenderness, localized swelling, redness, malodor and fever [1].

Among the obstetrical and gynecological surgeries, cesarean section is the most common which attributes to short time consequences like SSI that in turn increases maternal morbidity, prolongs hospital stay and increase medical costs [2].

Approximately 18.5 million cesarean sections are performed yearly worldwide. About 40% of the countries have C/S rates < 10%, about 10% have C/S rates between 10 and 15%, and approximately 50% have C/S rates of > 15%. Majority of the countries that did 18.5 million C/S were from Africa (68.5%) and remaining (29.6%) were from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Due to the worldwide continuous rise in the incidence of cesarean deliveries, the number of women with surgical site infection is expected to increase. The SSI after cesarean section causes physical, psychological and economic burden to the woman, her family and in the community [3]. The rate of C/S in published series in different areas of Ethiopia ranges 14.23–27.6% [4, 5].

The maternal infection following delivery increases by eight-fold when delivered by cesarean section than vaginal delivery. Based on studies related to SSI following caesarean section, the proportion of the SSI ranges from 3 to 15% [6].

Based on the surgical wound classification, cesarean section is a clean contaminated type of surgery where procedure- related chances of infection are less likely to occur, but infection after cesarean section is still a major problem in our setup. The majority of the problem arises from preventable causes, which, if addressed would significantly reduce rates of wound infection.

Identifying risk factors for post-cesarean surgical-site infections (SSIs) could contribute to a decrease in maternal morbidity.

Only one study has been done in Ethiopia to give a picture of a post-cesarean section SSI. Based on the findings of a study on the Surgical Site Infection done in Jimma University, Ethiopia 2010, the SSI among cesarean section cases was 66 (8.55%) [7]. As infection continues to be a common postoperative complication in the study area, and no previous study has been done, there is a need to assess the magnitude and factors contributing to surgical site infection. Thus, this study aims to assess the magnitude and determinants of SSI following cesarean section.

Retrospective medical record review study was conducted among mothers underwent C/S from 2014 to 2016 at ACSH, Mekelle city to determine the magnitude and determinants of SSI following C/S delivery.

Mekelle is the capital city of Tigray region and the largest city in northern Ethiopia, at a distance of 783 km from Addis Ababa. It has a population of more than 323,000 among these populations, there are 110,788 females, 104,758 males, 26,536 under five, 60,998 women in reproductive age (15–49 years) and 78,770 < 15 years age [8]. Mekelle has one public referral hospital (ACSH) and three general hospitals namely (Mekelle Hospital, Quiha Hospital and Northern Command Hospital) which are public government hospitals.

ACSH commenced rendering its referral and non-referral services since 2008 to 8 million people in its catchment areas of the Tigray, Afar and Southeastern parts of Amhara Regional States and currently it provides antenatal, delivery and post natal services. It provides a broad range of medical services to both in and out patients of all age groups. As such, the Hospital can be designated as the most advanced medical facility, by all accounts, in the Northern part of the country and that it stands as the second largest hospital in the nation. It has a total capacity of about 500 inpatient beds in four major departments and other specialty units and 84 beds in obstetrics & gynecology department. The obstetrics & gynecology department has 51 staff (5 gynecologist, 7 residents, 18 midwifery and 21 nurses) and is also used as a teaching hospital for the College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University. Annually, ACSH has 2500 deliveries per year; of this, 660 are C/S deliveries [9]. In ACSH, the medical doctors range from resident one up to senior gynecologist specialists. Routinely used antibiotics are Ceftriaxone (as prophylaxis & treatment), Ampicillin and Metronidazole.

The sample size was calculated using the single population proportion formula based on the following assumptions, 95% confidence interval with a 4% margin of error, the expected proportion of post C/S infection taken from a study done in Jimma university hospital which was (P) 8.5% [7]

By adding 10% contingency for charts with incomplete information the final sample size was 206.

Medical records were reviewed to find out the magnitude and associated factors of post-cesarean section infection (S.S.I) on women who underwent C/S ACSH. A total of 206 (193 non-elective and 13 elective) were eligible for analysis.

This study indicated that 24 (11.7%) of the study participant had SSI. This figure is higher than the result reported from different studies which revealed that the rate of SSI in US hospitals was 4.1%, in New Zealand 5%, in Brazil 1.44%, China 0.7%, Pakistan 5.8%, Estonian university 6.2%, Saudi Arabia 4–2.4%, and in Nizwa, Oman 2.66%. This discrepancy could be due to the difference in socioeconomic status and health care delivery system [10‐13, 14‐17].

Similarly, in this study the magnitude of SSI has also shown higher from the studies conducted in England, Nigeria and Jimma which, the rate of post C/S infection was 9.6, 9.3 and 8.55% respectively [7, 18, 19]. This variation might be due to the difference in study area and study participants. However, the results are approximately similar to those from studies conducted in Dhulikhel Hospital, Nepal and Tanzania in which the rates of post c/s infection were 12.6 and 10.9% respectively [20, 21].

This study found a number of factors associated with SSI following C/S. Women who had premature rupture of membrane are six times more likely to develop post C/S infection than those who had not. [AOR = 6.064, CI: (1.676–21.949)]. This finding is in line with the study conducted in US hospitals [OR = 3.0; 95% CI, (3.24–3.5)] and Nigeria (OR = 4.45) [10, 19]. This association could be due to the fetal membrane acting as a barrier to infection. However, when the fetal membrane is ruptured early, it loses its protective effect and microorganisms found in the vagina may easily migrate. This may expose the mother for SSI. This finding was also supported by other studies conducted in Brazil, China, Nepal and Sub-Saharan Africa [12, 13, 20, 22].

The other factor that showed significant association were women who had chorioaminities was sixteen times more likely to have SSI following c/s than those who had not. [AOR = 16.17, 95%CI: (28.50–91.8190] This is also consistent with a study conducted in an Estonian university hospital revealing that women who had chorioaminities were 8.8 times more likely to have post C/S infection (OR, 8.8; 95%CI, 1.1–69.6) [15]. This variation might be related to socioeconomic difference between the countries. Another study conducted in Jimma as also shown significant association [7].

In this study, a rural setting has shown significant association. Women from rural areas were five times more likely to have post C/S infection than those women from urban areas. [(AOR = 5.666, 95% CI: 1.568–20.483)]. This could be due limited access to hygienic materials and poorer hygiene for women living in rural areas when compared to those in urban areas. However, a study conducted in a US urban setting showed significant association with post C/S infection [10].

This study also found that prolonged labor prior to surgery had shown a significant association with SSI following C/S. Women who had prolonged labor were six times more likely to have SSI than those who had not. Similar finding were also reported from a study conducted in New Zealand [11]. This relationship between duration of labor and SSI may be due to increased exposure time where infection can be acquired and to the fact that as duration of labor increase, number of vaginal examinations also increased. Studies conducted in Brazil, China and Tanzania [12, 13, 21] shown that post C/S infection had significant association with frequent vaginal examination.

The other factor that showed significant association was blood loss. Women with intra-operative blood loss of less than 1000 ml were 90% less likely to have SSI than those who had blood loss of more than 1000 ml [(AOR = 0.097,95% CI: 0.017–0.569)]. This finding is consistent with a study conducted in US revealing that women with excessive blood loss were 2.4 times [(OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 2.34–2.49)] more likely to develop post C/S infection [10]. This finding is also supported by a study conducted in Jimma [7]. This association could be due to excessive blood loss associated with poor control and tissue damage due to prolonged retraction, leading to use of extra sutures which may reduce local resistance mechanism.

Finally, the HIV status of women had shown a significant association. HIV positive women had about seven times more likely to have post C/S infection than those HIV negative women [(AOR = 6.982, CI: 1.382–35.269)]. However, other studies did not show its association.

In this study, the age of the mother, ANC follow up, parity, emergency C/S, skin incision, duration of operation, and skill of the person who performs the procedure had no significant association with post c/s infection. However, it is difficult to conclude that those variables are not totally important.

The magnitude of post C/S infection in this study is high. PROM, chorioaminities, prolonged labor, HIV status, residence and blood loss had shown significant association with post C/S infection.

In this study age of the mother, ANC follow up, parity, emergency c/s, skin incision, duration of operation, and skill of the person who perform the procedure had no significant association with post C/S infection. However, it is difficult to conclude that those variables are not totally important. A small sample was there to show statistical significance.

Based on the finding, the following recommendations are forwarded: