What if a CABG patient returns to the operating room for bleeding greater than 24 hours after the initial surgery and subsequently develops an infection. Is the infection related to the CABG or is it related to the re-exploration for bleeding? 3/5/2008
See the Protocol section of the SSI Reporting Manual. Under numerator data it states, "If a patient has several operative procedures prior to a surgical site infection, assign the infection to the operation that was performed most closely in time prior to the surgical site infection date, unless there is evidence that the infection is associated with a different operation."