Table 1.

Surgical Site Infections

	Tissue Involved	Timeframe	Symptoms
Incisional SSI
Superficial	Skin and subcutaneous tissue	Within 30 days of surgery	One of: -Purulent discharge -Organism cultured from fluid or tissue -Pain, tenderness, swelling, erythema AND opened by surgeon -Diagnosis by surgeon or attending physician
Deep	Deep soft tissue (ex: fascial plane, muscles)	Within 30 days of surgery OR 1 year with implant	One of: -Purulent discharge -Spontaneous dehiscence OR opened by surgeon with fever or pain -Evidence on direct examination or radiology -Diagnosis by surgeon or attending physician
Organ/Space SSI*
	Any anatomy manipulated during surgery other than incision	Within 30 days of surgery OR 1 year with implant	One of: -Purulent discharge from organ space -Organism cultured from fluid or tissue -Evidence on direct examination or radiology -Diagnosis by surgeon or attending physician

^*Note: If an organ/space infection communicates with the skin and drains along the incision, this is considered an deep incisional SSI