Surgery that involves a cut (incision) in the skin can lead to a wound infection after surgery. Most surgical wound infections show up within the first 30 days after surgery.

Surgical wound infections may have pus draining from them and can be red, painful, or hot to touch. You might have a fever and feel sick. To avoid these problems, you can also go for post-surgical drainage treatment. You must consult a specialist via www.centese.com/ before undergoing treatment.

Surgical wounds can become infected by:

  • Germs that are already on your skin that spread to the surgical wound
  • Germs that are inside your body or from the organ on which the surgery was performed
  • Germs that are in the environment around you such as infected surgical instruments or on the hands of the health care provider.

You are more at risk for a surgical wound infection if you:

  • Have poorly controlled diabetes
  • Have problems with your immune system
  • Are overweight or obese
  • Are a smoker
  • Take corticosteroids (for example, prednisone)
  • Have surgery that lasts longer than 2 hours

There are different levels of wound infections:

  • Superficial – the infection is in the skin area only
  • Deep – the infection goes deeper than the skin into the muscle and tissue
  • Organ/space – the infection is deep and involves the organ and space where you had surgery