Surgical Site Infections and Perioperative Antibiotic Use in Children with Medical Complexity.

Surgical site infection is an uncommon postoperative complication of surgery, occurring in 1% to 2% of all pediatric surgical patients. Rates vary widely between procedure types, but in general, children with medical complexity (CMC) tend to have more surgical site infections (SSIs) than their otherwise healthy peers. Reasons for this phenomenon are unclear and likely multifactorial. Optimal prevention efforts involve pediatric and surgical providers collaborating to balance all aspects of care of CMC during the perioperative period to prevent an SSI.