Abstract:Objective To analyze the factors influencing postoperative deep surgical site infection (DSSI) in patients with traumatic calcaneal fractures following emergency surgery.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 82 patients with traumatic calcaneal fractures admitted to the Emergency Surgery, Orthopedic Trauma, and Trauma Center of Lianyungang Second People's Hospital between January 2020 and December 2023. All patients underwent open reduction and internal fixation. The incidence of DSSI was recorded. Risk factors for postoperative DSSI and the predictive value of relevant indicators were analyzed.Results A comparison between the complication group and the non-complication group regarding BMI, the composition of wound cleanliness, operative time, and preoperative serum WBC and NEUT levels, using the χ2 /t -test, showed statistically significant differences (P 0.05). The complication group had higher BMI, a higher proportion of wound cleanliness grades III-IV, longer operative time, and higher preoperative serum WBC and NEUT levels compared to the non-complication group. Multivariate general Logistic regression analysis results showed that wound cleanliness grade III-IV [O^R = 5.613 (95% CI: 1.918, 16.421) ], high BMI [O^R = 1.395 (95% CI: 1.084, 1.795) ], long operative time [O^R = 1.018 (95% CI: 1.000, 1.036) ], high WBC level [O^R = 2.862 (95% CI: 1.653, 4.956) ], and high NEUT level [O^R = 1.302 (95% CI: 1.022, 1.659) ] were all risk factors for postoperative DSSI in patients with traumatic calcaneal fractures (P 0.05). The AUC value for the combination of these five factors predicting postoperative DSSI in patients with traumatic calcaneal fractures was 0.988 (95% CI: 0.971, 1.000), with a sensitivity of 96.00% (95% CI: 0.751, 0.964) and a specificity of 72.60% (95% CI: 0.598, 0.831).Conclusion Incision cleanliness grade III~IV, high BMI, prolonged surgery time, and high preoperative levels of WBC and NEUT are independent risk factors for DSSI following emergency surgery for traumatic calcaneal fractures. The presence of these factors should alert clinicians to an increased risk of postoperative DSSI.