ArticleArchives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery2020
Seasonal effect on the incidence of post-operative wound complications after trauma-related surgery of the foot, ankle and lower leg.
Article in Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Geographical Differences in Wound Complication Rates Following the Sinus Tarsi Approach in Displaced Intra-articular Calcaneal Fractures: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Clinics in orthopedic surgery · 2024Pooled it
- Predicting surgical site infections after open reduction and internal fixation for ankle fractures.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2025Article
- Seasonal Impact on Wound Healing and Surgical Site Infections after Reduction Mammoplasty.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Seasonal variation and preoperative risk factors for polymicrobial infection following open fracture.Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma · 2024Article
- The Association of Season of Surgery and Patient Reported Outcomes following Total Hip Arthroplasty.Geriatric orthopaedic surgery & rehabilitation · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPost-operative wound complications remain among the most common complications of orthopedic (trauma) surgery. Recently, studies have suggested environmental factors such as season to be of influence on wound complications. Patients operated in summer are reported to have more wound complications, compared to other seasons. The aim of this study was to identify if "seasonality" was a significant predictor for wound complications in this cohort of trauma-related foot/ankle procedures. MATERIALS AND
methodsThis retrospective cohort study included all patients undergoing trauma-related surgery (e.g. fracture fixation, arthrodesis, implant removal) of the foot, ankle or lower leg. Procedures were performed at a Level 1 Trauma Center between September 2015 until March 2019. Potential risk factors/confounders were identified using univariate analysis. Procedures were divided into two groups: (1) performed in summer (June, July or August), (2) other seasons (September-May). The number of surgical wound complications (FRIs, SSIs or wound dehiscence) was compared between the two groups, corrected for confounders, using multivariate regression.
resultsA total of 599 procedures were included, mostly performed in the hindfoot (47.6%). Patients were on average 46 years old, and mostly male (60.8%). The total number of wound complications was 43 (7.2%). Age, alcohol abuse, open fracture and no tourniquet use were independent predicting factors. No difference in wound complications was found between summer and other seasons, neither in univariate analysis [4 (3.2%) vs 39 (8.2%), p = 0.086] nor when corrected for predicting factors as confounders (p = 0.096).
conclusionsNo seasonality could be identified in the rate of wound complications after trauma surgery of the lower leg, ankle and foot in this cohort. This lack of effect might result from the temperate climate of this cohort. Larger temperature and precipitation differences may influence wound complications to a larger extent. However, previous studies suggesting seasonality in wound complications might also be based on coincidence.
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