Background: Surgical-site infections (SSIs) are the commonest cause of healthcare-related infections. Although a surgical care bundle (SCB), defined as a group of preventative measures, is effective in reducing SSIs, it has not been well documented in breast cancer surgery. We aimed to investigate the impact of SCB on SSI.
Methods: A single-centre retrospective comparative cohort study between 2016 and 2020 was carried out. An SCB including eight different measures was implemented in October 2018 at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden. Patients who underwent non-reconstructive breast cancer surgery were included for analysis. The primary endpoint was SSI within 30 days after surgery.
Results: Overall, 10.4% of patients (100/958) developed SSI. After SCB implementation, the overall SSI rate reduced from 11.8% to 8.9% (p = 0.15). The largest SSI rate reduction was seen in the subgroup that underwent breast conservation and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), from 18.8% to 9.8% (p = 0.01). In this multivariable analysis adjusting for patient and treatment factors, the implementation of SCB resulted in a statistically significant reduction in SSI risk (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.40-0.99, p = 0.04).
Conclusions: The implementation of a SCB could reduce the incidence of SSI in breast cancer surgery.
Keywords: axillary lymph node clearance; breast cancer; breast conservation; care bundle; mastectomy; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; sentinel lymph node biopsy; surgical site infection.