Wound infection incidence

Method

Proportion of patients developing a clinically or microbiologically diagnosed infection at the burn wound, surgical wound, or graft site, per the trial stated diagnostic criteria, pooled as a risk ratio. The diagnostic criteria and the follow-up window are recorded on the edge.

The method is part of the endpoint identity. Studies measuring the same quantity by a different method are held as separate endpoints.

Notes

Anatomically restricted to the wound bed. Its near-miss is systemic or non-wound infection incidence (pneumonia, bacteraemia, urinary tract), reported separately in the same trials and moving differently: in PMID 38243579 glutamine cut wound infection (RR 0.38) but not non-wound infection (RR 0.88). Pooling the two into a single infection endpoint dilutes a real local effect toward the null. Excludes infection-related reoperation, which is the consequence node above, and excludes catheter-related bloodstream infection.