Infections Following Skin Graft Surgery in Australia: Incidence, Graft Type and Anatomical Site Associations and Microbiology

Background/Objectives: Infection following skin grafting can compromise graft take and prolong hospitalisation, but contemporary data describing infection incidence, microbiology and graft-specific associations are limited. We aimed to determine the incidence and microbiology of microbiologically confirmed postoperative skin graft infection, examine associations with graft type and anatomical site and describe antimicrobial prescribing practices.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 977 skin graft procedures performed in 770 patients at two regional hospitals in New South Wales, Australia, between July 2021 and August 2024. Infection was defined as a clinician-diagnosed postoperative skin graft infection with microbiological confirmation of a pathogenic organism. Associations between graft type/site and infection were explored using patient-clustered modified Poisson regression. Patient comorbidities and wound-contamination status were not consistently available and were not analysed as covariates.