Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part A (2025)

Introduction: Postoperative infections are infections caused by skin bacteria that occur after surgery. They are a cause for concern and are associated with high mortality rates.
Objective: To study the risk factors for postoperative infections in neurosurgery at the Borgou University and Departmental Hospital Center (CHUD B).
Setting, patients, and method: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study conducted over a six-year period from January 2018 to December 2023. It included all cases of patients who underwent neurosurgery at CHUD B. 
Results: We collected 447 patient records. The average age was 29.03±20.48 years. There was a predominance of males with a sex ratio (M/F) of 4.32. The frequency of 17.23% of cases were surgical emergencies, with the main reason being traumatic brain injury (64.65%). Intracranial hematoma evacuation was performed in 42.92% of cases. The postoperative infection rate was 3.80%, or 17/447 cases. Postoperative meningitis was the most common infection (41.17%). The clinical manifestations were dominated by infectious syndrome in 64.71% of cases, with laboratory findings indicating anemia (35.29%), hyperleukocytosis (76.47%), and positive C-reactive protein in all cases (100%). The germs present and isolated in the cytological and bacteriological examination in 11.76% of cases were Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which were sensitive to lincosamides, second-generation cephalosporins, or aminoglycosides. Significantly associated risk factors were high blood pressure, transfer from another department, duration of surgery between 120 and 180 minutes, and postoperative hospital stay longer than 15 days. The outcome was favorable in 12 patients, with two cases of reoperation. Overall mortality was 17.65%. 
Conclusion: Postoperative infections in neurosurgery are rare but serious because the clinical manifestations are loud and severe when they occur. The cost of infections treatment remains high.