Abstract
ABSTRACT Surgical site infections (SSIs) and antimicrobial resistance among pathogens causing SSI are a growing concern in veterinary hospitals. One major reason, the widespread use of antimicrobials, has led to increased incidence of SSIs. This study identified bacteria and resistance profiles to antimicrobials in the SSI cases diagnosed at the Surgical Clinic of Small Animals in the Veterinary Hospital, Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil. The main genus identified was Staphylococcus, followed by Escherichia, Enterococcus, Bacillus, Shigella, Citrobacter, Proteus, Morganella, Serratia, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas and Klebsiella were also found, but in small number. The results indicated the predominance of Gram-negative bacteria among the collected samples. Most of isolates identified were resistant to more than one of the following antimicrobials: ampicillin, tetracycline, enrofloxacin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and cephalotin. Of the 17 Staphylococcus sp. isolates, two (11.8%) were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 11 (64.7%) of them were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP). There were bacterial genera identified with resistance to all tested antimicrobials in different proportions. This should alert veterinary hospitals to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria and to the requirement for the revision of surgical protocols with regard to antimicrobial prophylaxis and therapy.
Highlights
The surgical site infection (SSI) is a common and widespread nosocomial infection in human medicine (Humphreys, 2009) and is considered the most important cause of postoperative complications, contributing significantly to increased morbidity and mortality in these patients (Sitio..., 2009)
Most are caused by multiple microorganisms, usually multidrug-resistant (MDR), and have many risk factors (Braga et al, 2012)
Incrementing resistance is a usual feature of microorganisms causing nosocomial infections, which present a wide variety of mechanisms for resistance (Nelson, 2011)
Summary
The surgical site infection (SSI) is a common and widespread nosocomial infection in human medicine (Humphreys, 2009) and is considered the most important cause of postoperative complications, contributing significantly to increased morbidity and mortality in these patients (Sitio..., 2009). In the past two decades, this type of infection has become an increasing concern in veterinary hospitals (Braga et al, 2012, Corsini et al, 2014, Murta et al, 2015). SSI is the most frequently reported type of nosocomial infection in small animals, occurring in between 0.8% to 18.1% of all surgical wounds in dogs and cats (Nelson, 2011). Most are caused by multiple microorganisms, usually multidrug-resistant (MDR), and have many risk factors (Braga et al, 2012). There is an increasing concern about the antibiotic resistance, which has several implications for human or animal health like higher costs, extended stay in the hospital, delayed recovery and patient death. Incrementing resistance is a usual feature of microorganisms causing nosocomial infections, which present a wide variety of mechanisms for resistance (Nelson, 2011)
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