Ask a doctor on the topic of Surgery

What is the risk of a bacterial infection of the surgical wound by hospital germs?

December 11, 2013 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Ive Dr. Schaaf

Dear Sir or Madam,

After an accident, I have to undergo surgery tomorrow. It involves the treatment of a right zygomatic fracture and a left ulnar shaft fracture. According to the treating doctors, these are relatively simple and fairly short routine procedures, both of which will be operated on in one session.

I am not particularly afraid before the procedures and anesthesia, but I do fear the invisible danger of germs in non-sterile surgery. Apart from being slightly overweight, I am otherwise a healthy young man aged 29. However, even healthy individuals like me can be affected by germs in surgical wounds. These germs are more likely to occur when surgery is not sterile.

In the media, it is reported in Germany that nearly 1 million patients are affected annually by bacterial infections (such as MRSA) after surgery - allegedly the trend is increasing. The main cause of such infections, according to various articles, is non-sterile surgical instruments or non-sterile foreign bodies.

Of course, I hope that this does not happen to me, but I would like to know what the risk is of these germs settling in the surgical wound and causing further, potentially untreatable problems afterwards.

Dr. med. Ive Dr. Schaaf

Good day,

there is no exact information about this problem because there are no exact numbers available.
This has various reasons:
On the one hand, infection is always a risk of a surgical procedure.
On the other hand, it is difficult to determine the cause of a possible infection.

Since the risk of infections is known, precautions are taken:
By shaving the surgical area, disinfecting the skin, disinfecting the tools, using sterilized surgical materials and drapes, surgical skin disinfection, sterile wound dressings, antibiotic therapy if necessary, etc.

However, there is always a residual risk that cannot be avoided.

I understand your concerns and if you wish, you can contact the hospital's hygiene officer where you will be operated on, but there will not be more than a "We do what we can". And that is certainly true.

The procedures that are to be performed on you are at the highest level of cleanliness, they do not take long, and if luck is on your side, it should proceed without complications. The risk of infection is relatively low for your procedures.

Best regards,

Dr. Schaaf