Title: Evaluation of Postoperative Fever in General Surgery Patients in Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Chidambaram, Cuddalore, India
Authors: Dr Guru Praveen, Dr N. Junior Sundresh, Dr Gopi Krishna, Dr Logesh Kumar
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v8i11.41
Abstract
Background: Post operative fever is a common complication seen in the postoperative ward. Most of the cases of pyrexia following surgery are self limiting. The appearance of postoperative fever is not limited to specific types of surgery. Fever can occur immediately after surgery or may occur several days following surgery depending in the underlying cause which might be directly related to surgery or due to infection elsewhere in the body. Therefore, while evaluating for postoperative pyrexia, it is vital to recognize when work up is needed and when immediate intervention is needed.
Methods: The study on evaluation of post operative pyrexia is based on 110 patients admitted in Rajah Muthiah Medical College Hospital in Chidambaram during the period from November 2018 to September 2019,and who underwent surgery for various surgical conditions. The study includes 45 females and 65 males, all under the age group of 10 to 70 years.
Result: Between the study period, a total of 1300 major elective surgeries were performed at our hospital. Only 110 patients developed pyrexia in the postoperative period. Of the total number of patients (110) who developed pyrexia, 65 patients were males and the remaining 45 were female.
Conclusion: In the first 48 hours after surgery, postoperative fever is a common occurrence and the etiology can be difficult to establish in certain clinical situations. This causes great diagnostic dilemma to the surgeon. The occurrence of pyrexia in the postoperative period is not determined by age and sex of the patient. The presence of preoperative co morbidity determines the complication rate and delay in recovery from the fever.
Keywords: elective surgery, postoperative period, surgical site infection, sepsis.
