Nichole Starr, M.D., MPH, and Research Team Demonstrate Significant Reduction of Surgical Site Infections in Ethiopia

A recent study published in the British Journal of Surgery by Nichole Starr, M.D., MPH and a team of researchers at Lifebox, showed a dramatic reduction in the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs) after implementing Clean Cut, a quality improvement program that helps surgical teams address the causes of SSIs. The study, Outcomes Following Implementation of Clean Cut, an Adaptive, Multimodal Surgical Infection Prevention Program for Low Resource Settings: A Prospective Quality Improvement Study, showed a 35% reduction in the risk of SSI, based on the outcomes of more than 2,000 operations across five hospitals in Ethiopia.

Dr. Starr, a general surgery research resident, has implemented the Clean Cut program in eight hospitals in Ethiopia since 2018. Dr. Starr’s work over the last two years has included program implementation, quality oversight, and the development of training materials and an online data platform for program analysis. The Clean Cut program will scale to multiple hospitals in several new countries over the next year. With SSI as one of the leading causes of hospital infections in resource limited settings, a scalable, cost-effective quality improvement program like Clean Cut has the potential to significantly improve morbidity and mortality of surgical patients worldwide.