Abstract

Background: Our large-volume orthopedic surgical hospital employs a modified screen-and-treat pre-operative decolonization protocol driven by patient-reported Staphylococcus aureus history (SAHx). Patients who report SAHx undergo pre-operative decolonization, and four-site Staphylococcus aureus (SA) surveillance cultures as time allows. We evaluated the effectiveness of patient-reported SAHx in identifying those with positive SA cultures who may be at increased risk for SA surgical site infection (SSI).