Is Operative Debridement Greater Than 24 Hours Post-admission Associated With Increased Likelihood of Post-operative Infection?

BACKGROUND: The historical "six-hour rule" as a golden hour for timing to debridement has been refuted in modern literature. Current standards prompt a timely debridement; however, in the setting of polytrauma, patients are often resuscitated for periods >24 h, with delayed orthopedic intervention. Therefore, we sought to determine the association between prolonged time to operative debridement (>24 h) and infection.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with open fractures that underwent irrigation and debridement at a single institution from 2008 to 2016. Demographic, injury, and operative variables were collected. Infection was defined as the need for intravenous antibiotics and/or repeat irrigation and debridement. Chi-squared test and univariate logistic regression were performed. P < 0.05 was the cutoff for significance.

RESULTS: Of 642 patients examined, 56 (8.7%) developed an infection. Prolonged time to debridement was not associated with increased infection rates (P = 1.00). Gustilo-Anderson classification was associated with increased risk of infection (type I: 2.1%, type II: 7.6%, and type III: 14.6%; P < 0.001). In univariate analysis, infection was associated with after-hours surgery (between 7 PM and 7 AM (odds ratio [OR] = 2.02; P < 0.02), definitive fixation more than 24 h post-admission (OR = 3.08; P < 0.001), wound closure more than 24 h post-admission (OR = 4.36; P < 0.001), and more than two operations performed post-admission (OR = 8.73; P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis of these factors found number of operations (OR = 7.13; P < 0.001) and time to definitive wound closure (OR = 4.04; P < 0.001) to be independent predictors of developing an infection.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that there is no association between infection and prolonged time to debridement.