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# Having Surgery? What You Should Know Before You Go
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/surgery_2306100738/
- Published: 2010-06-23T20:37:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:11:27.000Z
- Description: Most surgery patients avoid infection, but CDC counts surgical site infections as the second most reported healthcare-associated infection, at 17% of infections among U.S. hospital patients. Patients can cut the odds: disclose other conditions, quit smoking, and never shave near the surgical site.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Drug, Health News, #vivvo-import

# 

Surgical site infections (SSIs) can complicate or prolong recovery after surgery. Be sure you know how to protect yourself and your loved ones.

For anyone, having any type of surgery can be both necessary and stressful. It raises many questions including: "What is the recovery process?", "How long will I be out of work?", and "What do I do after leaving the hospital or surgery center?" Another important question patients should consider is, "How do I avoid getting a surgical site infection?"

A surgical site infection is an infection that occurs after surgery in the part of the body where the surgery took place. Most patients who have surgery do not develop an infection. According to CDC, surgical site infections are the second most frequently reported healthcare-associated infection, accounting for 17% of infections among U.S. hospitalized patients.

These infections can complicate and even prolong the recovery process, causing additional illness, stress, and cost. While most surgical site infections can be treated with antibiotics, it's much better to prevent them in the first place.

**How can you and your loved ones safeguard against surgical site infections?**

- Prior to your surgical procedure, be sure to discuss other health problems, such as allergies and diabetes, with your doctor. These issues could affect your surgery and your treatment.
- If you smoke – quit. Patients who smoke get more infections.
- Be sure not to shave near where you will have surgery, as this may irritate your skin and make it easier to develop an infection. Although hair removal isn't required for all procedures, when it is necessary, it should be done with electric clippers. Speak up if someone tries to shave you with a razor before surgery.
- Ask if you should get antibiotics prior to surgery.

**After surgery, be sure to follow the recommendations below to protect yourself from contracting a surgical site infection.**

- Ask your provider if they have cleaned their hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub before they examine you or check your wound.
- Family and friends should also clean their hands before and after visiting you.
- Do not allow visitors to touch the surgical wound or dressings.
- Make sure you understand how to care for your wound before you leave the medical facility.
- Always clean your hands before and after caring for your wound.
- If you have any symptoms of an infection, such as redness and pain at the surgery site, drainage, or fever, call your doctor immediately.

Ensuring the safety of healthcare for patients in all settings is a priority for CDC. In addition to what you can do to prevent surgical site infections, CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have also helped healthcare facilities, including ambulatory surgical centers, review their infection control practices.

**What can your healthcare provider do to help prevent surgical site infections?**

To prevent surgical site infections, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers should also follow CDC's infection control guidelines including:

- Clean their hands and arms up to their elbows with an antiseptic agent just before the surgery.
- Clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub before and after caring for each patient.
- If indicated, remove some patient hair immediately before the surgery using electric clippers if the hair is in the same area where the procedure will occur.
- Wear special hair covers, masks, gowns, and gloves during surgery to keep the surgery area clean.
- When indicated, give antibiotics before surgery starts. In most cases, patients should get antibiotics within 60 minutes before the surgery starts, and the antibiotics should be stopped within 24 hours after surgery.
- Clean the skin at the surgery site with a special soap that kills germs.