ArticlePediatric surgery international2022
Behind the mask: extended use of surgical masks is not associated with increased risk of surgical site infection.
Article in Pediatric surgery international, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Reevaluating the relationship between COVID-19 and type 1 diabetes mellitus: Methodological considerations.World journal of diabetes · 2025Article
- [Bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of surgical masks used for eight hours and unused masks with Staphylococcus aureus].Revista espanola de salud publica · 2025Article
- Exploring the need for surgical face masks in operating room: a comprehensive literature review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2024Review
- Case Study on the design optimization of the positive pressure operating room.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Is the whole-day use of surgical masks during the coronavirus pandemic increasing the contamination of surgeons' masks?American journal of infection control · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 Protocols on Primary and Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty.The Journal of arthroplasty · 2022Article
- Does wearing facemasks during small animal surgery reduce the incidence of surgical site infections?Veterinary evidenceReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeCOVID-19 has prompted significant policy change, with critical attention to the conservation of personal protective equipment (PPE). An extended surgical mask use policy was implemented at our institution, allowing use of one disposable mask per each individual, per day, for all the cases. We investigate the clinical impact of this policy change and its effect on the rate of 30-day surgical site infection (SSI).
methodsA single-institution retrospective review was performed for all the elective pediatric general surgery cases performed pre-COVID from August 2019 to October 2019 and under the extended mask use policy from August 2020 to October 2020. Procedure type, SSI within 30 days, and postoperative interventions were recorded.
resultsFour hundred and eighty-eight cases were reviewed: 240 in the pre-COVID-19 cohort and 248 in the extended surgical mask use cohort. Three SSIs were identified in the 2019 cohort, and two in the 2020 cohort. All postoperative infections were superficial and resolved within 1 month of diagnosis with oral antibiotics. There were no deep space infections, readmissions, or infections requiring re-operation.
conclusionExtended surgical mask use was not associated with increased SSI in this series of pediatric general surgery cases and may be considered an effective and safe strategy for resource conservation with minimal clinical impact.
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