Researchers explored whether Staphylococcus aureus causing surgical-site infections (SSIs) in orthopaedic surgeries came from patients (endogenous) or the environment (exogenous).
In a study involving nearly 4,000 patients, 22 developed SSIs linked to S. aureus, with nasal swabs showing 20% of patients carried the bacteria pre-surgery.
While nasal carriage was identified as a risk factor, many SSIs did not show matching strains, suggesting that the bacteria may come from different sources rather than being directly transferred from the nasal cavity to the surgical site.