Risk Factors for Postoperative Surgical Site Infection in Patients Undergoing Spinal Tumor Surgery

Study Design: A retrospective comparative case-control study. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) in patients with spinal tumors requiring reoperation during the perioperative period. Summary of Background Data: SSI is a common postoperative complication of spinal surgery. The occurrence of SSI not only increases the mortality rate but prolongs the patient’s hospital stay and increases the medical cost. Methods: Included in this study were 202 patients with spinal tumors who received surgical treatment between January 2008 and December 2018, of whom 101 patients who developed SSI and underwent secondary surgery were used as the SSI group, and the other 101 patients with no SSI who were matched with the SSI group by age (±10), pathologic diagnosis (malignant/no-malignant), tumor site (C/T/L/S), surgical approach (anterior/posterior/combined), and surgical team were used as the control group. The clinical data of the 202 patients in both groups were analyzed by logistic regression modeling to identify SSI-associated risk factors. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the revision status ( B =1.430, P =0.028), the number of spinal levels fused ≥4 ( B =0.963, P =0.006), and the use of bone cement ( B =0.739, P =0.046) were significantly associated with the increased risk of developing postoperative SSI. Conclusions: This study identified the revision status, the number of spinal levels fused ≥4, and the use of bone cement as independent risk factors for SSI in patients with spinal tumors who underwent reoperation during the perioperative period.