Background: Invasive Candida infections following abdominal surgery represent a significant medical problem. This study initiates a benchmarking project to pinpoint the current role and epidemiology of candidemia in this patient group in German hospitals.
Material and methods: During the year 2010 data derived from 47 704 abdominal surgery cases in hospitals from Germany were analysed in order to determine benchmarking incidences for candidemia.
Results and conclusion: In 20.3 % of all recognised bloodstream infections Candida spp. were identified as the responsible organisms. If related to all abdominal surgery cases analysed in this study, a candidemia-benchmarking incidence of 0.15 % (95 % CI: 0.10-0.21 %) was determined. In patients who required intensive care after surgery the incidence of candidemia was found to be 0.89 % (95 % CI: 0.57-1.38 %). The incidence increased to 3.13 % (95 % CI: 2.09-4.66 %) in patients who received blood culture diagnosis. The German National Reference Centre of Systemic Mycosis provides hospital specific data for participants of this study to enable benchmarking and infection control (www.nrz-mykosen.de/gastrointestinalchirurgie).
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.