Audit of infection and antimicrobial drug resistance pattern in bacterial infections in road traffic accident survivors

Abstract

Background: In countries like India, road traffic accident (RTA) associated morbidity and mortality is rising in alarming rate and is major concern of public health. Around 80% of the late deaths in trauma patients are due to infection. This study was undertaken to study the profile of infection and drug resistance pattern of bacterial infection in RTA survivors. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study and was conducted at a tertiary care hospital with documented evidence of infection from the hospital records. The demographic details of the patient, details of injury and the pathogens causing infections with drug resistance patterns were studied. Results: A total of 163 patients were accrued and the majority of the patients were male (140, 85%) and around 66% belonged to the working age group, i e., 20–50 years. Most of the patient's were treated by orthopedics and surgery departments, 72% and 20%, respectively. The majority of the patients had wound infection followed by Urinary tract infection. Among the Gram-negative pathogens, Escherichia coli and Citrobacter species were the common pathogens; and among Gram-positive organisms, Enterococcus species and Staphylococcus aureus. Most of the pathogens were resistant to commonly used presurgical prophylactic antibiotics such as ampicillin, cefuroxime, and ciprofloxacin. Conclusion: The bacterial profile of the pathogens causing infection in RTA survivors may vary among different institutions. Therefore the antibiogram of these pathogens needs to be studied and analyzed by each medical facility attending to RTA survivors to formulate policy for presurgical antibiotic prophylaxis.