ObjectiveTo investigate the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, analyze the risk factors, and provide basis for the prevention and control of SSI.MethodsAll hospitalized orthopedic patients undergoing surgery in a hospital from January 2010 to December 2014  were retrospectively surveyed,  questionnaires were designed, patients’ medical records were reviewed, incidence of SSI was analyzed, risk factors for SSI were analyzed with univariate  and logistic regression methods.ResultsA total of 14 300 orthopedic patients undergoing surgery were investigated, 576 (4.03%) patients had SSI, predominantly  were superficial incision infection (n=429, 74.48%), 615 strains of pathogenic bacteria were isolated from 576 patients, mainly were Staphylococcus aureus (n=137, 22.28%), Escherichia coli (n=84, 13.66%）,and Enterobacter cloacae (n=73,11.87%). The incidence of SSI decreased year by year in patients undergoing orthopedics surgery（χ2=24.706，P＜0.001）; the incidence of SSI in patients with amputation was the highest (22.67%), followed by patients with debridement (7.16%); multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that long duration of operation, long length of hospital stay, underlying diseases, use of implants, contaminated incision, more intraoperative blood loss, irrational perioperative use of antimicrobial agents, and without using negative pressure drainage were independent risk factors for SSI in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery.ConclusionThe incidence of SSI is high in orthopedic patients undergoing surgery, effective preventive measures should be actively taken according to the related risk factors of SSI,so as to reduce the occurrence of SSI.