Infection Prevention Bundle in Preventing Implant-related Infections for Sacral Neuromodulation: A Single Surgeon Experience

Abstract

Abstract Background Implant-related infections (IRIs) after sacral neuromodulation (SNM) carry a high morbidity. Meanwhile, studies on care bundles report lower infection rate. Herein, we investigate the effectiveness of infection prevention bundle (IPB) in minimizing IRIs after SNM. Methods An IPB focused on pre-operative checklists, weight-based antibiotic prophylaxis, strict draping and surgical techniques, and wound care education; was implemented in our center in February 2018. we performed a retrospective review of patients who underwent SNM-I testing from September 2013 to March 2023. Subjects were divided into pre-IPB and post-IPB groups. All cases were performed by a single surgeon. Infection rates were calculated for pre-IPB and post-IPB groups. Results A total of 110 patients underwent SNM-I testing during the study period. There were 28 pre-IPB and 82 post-IPB surgical cases. Only one patient in the pre-IPB group had IRI, while no infected patient in post-IPB group. Both groups had no significant differences in gender distribution, age, surgery duration, test period and the rate of infected patients. Conclusions Although significantly prolonging the test stage，implementation of an IPB approach can be potentially decrease the incidence of IRIs.