Nasal Photodisinfection Reduces Hospital Length of Stay, Readmissions and Antibiotic use in Substantial Study at Major Ottawa Hospital

• 48% shorter mean length of stay among those treated compared with those not treated (P<0.001)
• 51% fewer readmissions compared with the pre-intervention period (P<0.001)
• 33% fewer instances of return to the Emergency Department compared with the pre-intervention period (P=0.005)
• Only 12.8% of patients who received treatment required antibiotics at 72hrs – 30 days post-surgery compared with 23.1% of patients who had not received treatment (P<0.001)

VANCOUVER, BC — One of Canada’s top research hospitals, The Ottawa Hospital, has presented results from its 2022 quality improvement study into patient outcomes after spinal surgery when using nasal photodisinfection for the prevention of surgical site infections (‘SSIs’). The study results were presented for the first time at the 2023 Annual Scientific Conference of the Canadian Spine Society in Quebec on Thursday 2 March, 2023.

The podium presentation showed that spine surgery patients treated with Ondine Biomedical’s Steriwave™ nasal photodisinfection had a 48% shorter mean length of stay in hospital compared with those not treated (LOS:  5.58 days vs. 10.67, P<0.001), and significantly fewer treated patients required antibiotics at 72hrs – 30 days post-surgery compared those not treated (12.8% vs. 23.1%, P<0.001). Additionally, there was 51% reduction in the rate of readmissions (3.4% vs. 7%, P<0.001) and 33% reduction in the rate of return to the emergency department (6.9% vs. 10.3%, P=0.005) in the intervention period compared to the pre-intervention period.

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading Canadian academic health sciences centre caring for 1.2 million patients across Eastern Ontario. It was awarded an innovation award from the Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network in January 2023 for the Steriwave study, which commenced in January 2022.

A total of 983 spine surgeries were performed from January to December 2022 using the hospital’s standard SSI prevention bundle. Of these, 476 patients also received the 5-minute Steriwave nasal photodisinfection treatment. Outcomes measured were compared between the treated and non-treated patients and also between the intervention period and a pre-intervention historical control group of 1,192 spine surgeries performed October 2020 to October 2021, which received the same standard SSI prevention bundle without nasal photodisinfection. Steriwave nasal photodisinfection, which has already been successfully used in a number of other Canadian hospitals to reduce the incidence of SSIs, was developed by Canadian life sciences company, Ondine Biomedical.

Jason Hickok, Ondine Biomedical’s VP, Medical and Clinical Affairs said:

“The recent study conducted at The Ottawa Hospital reaffirms our previous findings regarding the efficacy of Steriwave nasal photodisinfection in treating patients prior to surgery. This treatment has proven to be highly beneficial for patients and hospitals alike by eliminating a broad range of pathogens commonly found in patients’ noses, thereby improving patient safety, and reducing hospital stays. Particularly in cases of spinal surgeries, where infections can be complex and require extended recovery periods with costs up to $100,000 per patient, the benefits of this treatment are significant. Given the current challenges of staffing and bed shortages in Canadian healthcare facilities, we believe that these findings from The Ottawa Hospital team are crucial for improving patient safety and hospital capacity across the country, especially with the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.”

SSIs are the leading cause of readmissions to hospital following surgery and are a significant cause of post-surgical morbidity and mortality, with a 2- to 11-fold increase in mortality risk.[i] A patient with a surgical site infection will, on average, spend five days more in hospital,[ii] significantly increasing the cost and lengthening a patient’s recovery.

In a single, 5-minute treatment, Steriwave eliminates infection-causing bacteria, viruses and fungi in the nose, which are a leading cause of surgical site infections.[iii] Previously reported research from Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) showed that pre-surgical use of Steriwave resulted in a 78% reduction in SSIs among spine surgery patients.[iv]

[i] Ban KA, Minei JP, Laronga C, et al. American College of Surgeons and Surgical Infection Society: Surgical Site Infection Guidelines, 2016 Update. J Am Coll Surg. 2017;224(1):59-74. doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2016.10.029.

[ii] Shepard J, Ward W, Milstone A, et al. Financial Impact of Surgical Site Infections on Hospitals: The Hospital Management Perspective. JAMA Surg. 2013;148(10):907–914. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2013.2246

[iii] Liu Z, Norman G, Iheozor-Ejiofor Z, Wong JK, Crosbie EJ, Wilson P. Nasal decontamination for the prevention of surgical site infection in Staphylococcus aureus carriers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 May 18;5(5):CD012462. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012462.pub2. PMID: 28516472; PMCID: PMC6481881.

[iv] Daniel Banaszek, Tom Inglis, Tamir Ailon, Raphaële Charest-Morin, Nicolas Dea, Charles G. Fisher, Brian K. Kwon, Scott J. Paquette, John Street. The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of photodynamic therapy in prevention of surgical site infection,The Spine Journal, Volume 19, Issue 9, Supplement, 2019, Page S138, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spinee.2019.05.299.

Original source here.