Incidence of Surgical-Site Infections and the Validity of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System Risk Index in a General Surgical Ward in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Abstract

SSIs cause considerable morbidity in Santa Cruz. Appropriate nosocomial infection surveillance and control should be introduced. The NNIS System risk index did not discriminate between patients at low and high risk for SSI in this hospital setting, but a risk score based on local cutoff points performed substantially better.