Postoperative fever.

Postoperative fever should alert the caregiver to the possibility of an infection complicating the recovery of the patient, but the presence of fever is not a reliable indicator of the presence of infection, and the absence of fever does not guarantee that the postoperative patient is infection-free. It is necessary to recognize that surgical infections add considerable cost to the care of patients. In a study published in 1993, postoperative infection added more than $12,000 to the cost of the patient's care; at present, this cost is certainly greater. The presence of postoperative fever in the absence of infection adds significantly to patient care--more than $9000 when compared with the uninfected patient.