Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
Hospital-acquired infection: what you can do | CION Cancer Clinics
A hospital-acquired infection is one picked up during the stay, usually in the wound, the chest, the urine because of a catheter, or the skin around a drip. You cannot remove the risk completely. Clean hands for every visitor, walking early, breathing exercises, asking each day whether each tube is still needed, and reporting a change the same hour all lower it a great deal. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
MI
Medically reviewed by Dr. Mohammed ImaduddinConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS, MS (General Surgery), MCh (Surgical Oncology) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- What is a hospital-acquired infection, and can you prevent it?
- Which infections happen after surgery, and what do they look like?
- What can the patient and the family actually do?
- Four things families tell us, and what is actually true
- What this page cannot tell you
- Common questions about infection after cancer surgery
The short answer
What is a hospital-acquired infection, and can you prevent it?
A hospital-acquired infection is one you did not have when you were admitted and picked up during the stay. After cancer surgery the usual ones are an infection of the wound, the chest, the urine because of a catheter, or the skin around a drip line. You cannot remove the risk completely, but clean hands, early walking, deep breathing and speaking up the moment something looks wrong lower it a great deal.
Why it happens more often after cancer surgery
Cancer operations tend to be long. They often leave drains, a catheter and a drip in place for several days, and each of those is a small doorway for germs. Many patients have had chemotherapy in the weeks before, have lost weight, or have diabetes. All of these make the body slower to fight off germs. A long stay, especially in intensive care, adds to the chance.
What "acquired in hospital" does and does not mean
It does not mean the ward was dirty or that someone was careless. Most of these infections are caused by germs that already live on your own skin or gut, which find a way in through a cut, a tube or the lungs while you are lying still.
The single most useful thing a visitor can do is clean their hands on the way in and on the way out, every time.Know the four
Which infections happen after surgery, and what do they look like?
Each has its own early signs. Knowing them helps you tell the nurse something specific rather than "he does not look right".
Wound infection
The skin around the cut becomes redder, warmer and more painful instead of settling. It usually shows up a few days after the operation, sometimes after you are already home.
Tell the team if you see
- Redness that is spreading outwards
- Pus or a bad smell from the dressing
- Pain that is getting worse, not better
Chest infection
Lying flat and breathing shallowly because of pain lets phlegm collect in the lungs. This is why the physiotherapist asks you to blow into the breathing device and to walk even when you would rather not.
Tell the team if you see
- A wet cough with coloured phlegm
- Faster breathing, or breathlessness at rest
- Fever with shivering
Urine infection from the catheter
A urinary catheter is a tube draining the bladder. The longer it stays, the more likely germs travel up it, which is why the team tries to take it out early.
Tell the team if you see
- Cloudy, dark or smelly urine in the bag
- Burning after the catheter comes out
- New confusion in an older patient
Drip or line infection
The plastic tube in the arm or neck used for fluids and medicines can become a route in. The skin around it turns red and sore, and the patient may run a fever with no other obvious cause.
Do not press on a sore line or re-tape it yourself. Report it the same day.Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistOn the ward
What can the patient and the family actually do?
Clean your hands, every time
Use the gel at the door and at the bed, before you touch the patient and after. Ask every visitor to do the same. Nobody on a good ward minds being reminded.
Keep visitors few and well
Anyone with a cough, a cold, loose motions or a fever should wait until they are better. Small children and large groups are better kept for after discharge, however much they want to come.
Get up, walk and breathe
Sitting out of bed, walking the corridor and doing the breathing exercises you were shown are the strongest protection against a chest infection. Pain relief exists so that you can do this. Ask for it rather than lying still.
Ask about every tube, every day
"Does the catheter still need to be in?" "Can the drip come out?" These are fair questions and the team expects them. Each tube removed is one doorway closed.
Say something early
New fever, a wound that looks worse, confusion, or a patient who says they feel worse than yesterday. Tell the nurse the same hour, not at the next ward round.
!
One thing that cannot wait
An infection can tip over into sepsis, where the body's response starts to shut down its own organs. Shivering that will not stop, very fast breathing, a racing pulse, new confusion or extreme drowsiness, cold blotchy skin, or passing very little urine are the signs. On the ward, call the nurse now. At home, go to the nearest emergency department the same hour and say the person had cancer surgery recently. Do not give a tablet to bring the fever down first.
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Commonly believed
Four things families tell us, and what is actually true
"If the hospital is clean, infection cannot happen."
Cleanliness matters and you should expect it. But most infections after surgery come from germs already living on the patient's own skin and gut. A spotless ward lowers the chance; it does not remove it.
"He was given antibiotics before the operation, so the wound is safe."
A dose given at the start of surgery lowers the chance of a wound infection. It does not cover the days afterwards, and it does nothing for the chest or the catheter.
"A home paste or oil on the wound will help it heal faster."
Anything put on a fresh surgical wound can carry germs into it and can hide the early redness the team needs to see. Leave the dressing exactly as the nurse left it.
"Once we are home, the infection risk is over."
Wound infections in particular often show up after discharge, when the family is the one looking at the dressing. That is why you are given a number to call. Use it for a wound that is redder, wetter or more painful than the day before.
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether the redness on your relative's wound is an infection or normal healing. Some pinkness along a fresh cut is expected. Only someone who can look at it and check the temperature can say which it is. When in doubt, ask early.
What happens if an infection is found
The team usually takes a swab, a urine sample or a blood sample to find out which germ it is, and starts an antibiotic while waiting for that result. A wound infection may need the dressing changed more often, a few stitches loosened to let it drain, or occasionally a small procedure to clean it out. It can lengthen the stay and delay the next treatment. Both are usually temporary.
Questions worth asking before you go home
Who looks at the wound, and how often. What a normal dressing should look like on day one at home. Which number to call, and whether it is answered at night. Whether any antibiotic is to be finished at home and what to do if a dose is vomited. Whether the catheter or drain is coming home with you, and who will remove it. Write the answers down.
Never stop or shorten a course of antibiotics on your own because the wound looks better. Ask the team that prescribed it.Questions we are asked
Common questions about infection after cancer surgery
Is a private room safer than the general ward?
A single room reduces contact with other patients, which helps for some germs. It does not change the biggest risks, which are the patient's own skin and gut germs, the tubes, and how much they walk and breathe.
Can we bring home-cooked food to the ward?
Ask the team first, because after some bowel and stomach operations eating is restricted for a while. Where it is allowed, freshly cooked, well-heated food carried in a clean closed container is usually fine. Avoid cut fruit that has stood for hours and anything reheated more than once.
Should the patient bathe, and can the wound get wet?
Keeping the body clean lowers the germ load on the skin, so washing is encouraged once the team says it is safe. Whether the dressing can get wet depends on its type. Some are waterproof, some are not. Ask the nurse before the first wash, and pat the area dry instead of rubbing.
Why does the doctor keep asking about diabetes and sugar levels?
High blood sugar makes it harder for the body to fight germs and slower to heal a wound. Around surgery, sugar levels are checked often and are sometimes controlled with insulin even in people who take tablets at home. This is temporary and protects the wound.
The wound has a little clear fluid coming out. Is that infection?
A small amount of thin, clear or pale pink fluid in the first days is common and is usually not infection. What should make you call is fluid that turns cloudy, yellow or green, a bad smell, the skin around it going red and hot, or the amount increasing. Take a photo each day so you can compare.
Does a fever after surgery always mean infection?
No. A mild rise in temperature in the first day or two is often the body's response to the operation itself, or to the lungs not opening fully. A fever that comes later, keeps climbing, or comes with shivering, a bad wound, coloured phlegm or cloudy urine is much more likely to be infection and needs a review that day.
Will an infection delay chemotherapy or radiotherapy?
Sometimes. The next treatment usually waits until the wound has healed and the infection has settled, because both chemotherapy and radiotherapy slow healing. A short delay is common and is planned for. Your oncologist will tell you what the wait means for your plan.
Are hospitals in Hyderabad worse for infection than abroad?
Infection after surgery happens in every hospital in every country, and the ways to lower it are the same everywhere. What you can judge is whether a centre measures its infection rates, has hand gel at every bed, removes tubes early and gets patients walking. Ask about those four things directly.
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Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
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Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
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Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
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MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
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Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
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Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
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Sources
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Keep reading
Related pages
Fever After Cancer SurgeryWhen a temperature is normal healing and when it is notSepsis After Cancer SurgeryThe emergency an infection can becomeDrains, Tubes, Lines and CathetersWhy each tube is there and when it comes outWound, Stitches and ScarsHow to look after the dressing at homeCaretaker and Family Guide to SurgeryWhat the family can do on the ward and after
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Worried about a wound, a fever or a tube?
Call the helpline and describe what you are seeing. A nurse or surgeon will tell you whether it can wait for the next dressing change or needs a look today. One helpline serves every CION centre.