Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control

The Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) analyzed more than 100,000 surgery cases and identified abdominal operations, operations lasting more than 2 hours, contaminated or dirty procedures, and more than three underlying medical diagnoses as factors associated with an increased incidence of SSI. When the NRC classification described in Table 48-1 was stratified by the number of SENIC risk factors present, the infection rates varied by as much as a factor of 15 within the same operative category. 

The Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) risk factors Include abdominal operation, operations lasting >2 hours, contaminated or dirty procedures by National Research Council (NRC) classification, and more than three underlying medical diagnoses. 

SENIC Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control... 

The Smdy on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC Project) published in 1981 demonstrated an association between surgery and nosocomial pneumonia (5). In this survey, pneumonias constituted 14% of all nosocomial infections detected among surgical patients, but 74% of all pneumonias occurred in surgical patients (40% of the total study population) (5). 

The Study of the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) identified four independent risk factors for postoperative wound infections operations on the abdomen, operations lasting more than 2 hours, contaminated or dirty wound classification, and at least three medical diagnoses. Patients with at least two SENIC risk factors who undergo clean surgical procedures have an increased risk of developing surgical wound infections and should receive antimicrobial prophylaxis. 

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