UK Vascular and Endovascular Research Network

Groin wound Infection after Vascular Exposure (GIVE) Audit and Multicentre Cohort Study

Background:

Surgical site infection (SSI) is a major potential complication of any operation and is associated with morbidity and mortality. Typically, the cohort of patients encountered by vascular surgeons have multiple co-morbidities such as diabetes, obesity and cardiac disease which increase their risk of developing an SSI. The groin is the most common site for an incision in vascular surgery and is predisposed to infection due to local skin flora and its proximity to the anal canal and genitalia. Reported incidence of SSI following groin incision is as high as 27%. The morbidity and in severe cases, mortality, associated with groin infections in the setting of autogenous and synthetic grafts make it a priority for future research into strategies to effectively protect patients from this complication.

Methodology:

The full study protocol has now been published online:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S246835741930035X

The Groin wound Infection after Vascular Exposure (GIVE) Audit was a prospective, multicentre, international audit aiming to capture contemporaneous data on infection rates of groin incision for arterial exposure in the UK and abroad. Three months of prospective data were captured, follow up was for 90 days. The primary outcome of interest was to compare local practice(s) against widely recognised national criteria (NICE guidelines) for the prevention and management of SSI. The individual centres’ rate of groin infection were calculated and compared to the cohort’s overall rate. Secondary analyses explored risk factors for developing an SSI following a groin incision, and subsequent analyses have evaluated the accuracy of existing tools for predicting SSI.

The GIVE Audit built on the existing UK-wide network of collaborators since VERN was founded in 2014 and international links formed will support further collaboration with trainees globally – promoting the global surgery agenda of developing good research and clinical practice in high, middle and low-income countries.

Current Progress:

This study is now completed. The provisional results have been presented at Vascular Society’s ASM 2019 (Manchester), and publications resulting from this work can be found at:

  1. 10.1111/iwj.13508
  2. 10.1016/j.ejvs.2021.05.009
  3. 10.1089/sur.2021.153

For any queries, please contact: give.audit@gmail.com