Key Quality Measures – Spinal Fusion Surgical Site Infections

What is a Spinal Fusion Surgical Site Infection?

Although most surgeries at Cook Children’s do not have major complications, some patients develop infections after their surgery. Cook Children’s always looks for ways to avoid these infections, including the use of evidence-based steps during surgery. Cook Children’s measures the number of infections following spinal fusion surgeries.

What does the Spinal Fusion Surgical Site Infection metric measure?

The number of spinal fusion surgeries where a patient develops an infection after surgery, per 100 surgeries.

What can you do as a parent or caregiver?

Here are some things you can do to help prevent a Surgical Site Infection:

Everyone who visits your child and takes care of your child should wash their hands before and after they visit.
Do not let anyone, other than members of your child’s care team, touch the surgical wound or dressing.
Tell your healthcare team if your child develops any redness, pain or drainage around their surgical wound or if they develop fever.

How are we doing?

Number of spinal fusion surgical site infections