Abstract
A study was carried out from November 2010 to June 2011 in Hawassa University Referral Teaching Hospital to identify bacterial species involved in post-operative wound infections and to determine their antimicrobial resistance pattern. The study involves 100 surgical patients with post-surgical wound infections. Swab samples of wound discharge were collected for bacteriological examination and inoculated on appropriate culture media. Isolates were identified and characterized by standard methods and antibiotic resistance was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. A total of 177 bacterial isolates were identified in the study. The most dominant isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella spp., Escherichia coli and coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) accounting for 45 (25.4%), 32 (18.1%), 30 (16.9%) and 26 (14.7%) of the isolates respectively. Other bacteria isolated include Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.0%), Proteus spp. (6.8%), Streptococci (5.1%), Citrobacter spp. (2.3%) and Enterobacter spp. (1.7%). Of the 177 isolates, 173 (97.7%) were resistant to at least 1 antimicrobial, while 164 (92.7%) were resistant to ≥2 antimicrobials. Resistance of isolated organisms was 76.3% to amoxicillin, 71.2% to penicillin, 56.9% to vancomycin, 39.5% to ceftriaxone and norfloxacin and 31.1% to gentamicin. The susceptibility of S. aureus was 64.4% to gentamicin but it was 100% resistant to amoxicillin. All isolates of P. aeruginosa were resistant to penicillin and amoxicillin. The rate of resistance of S. aureus to 2 or more antimicrobials was 97.8% and that of P. aeruginosa was 100%. This study confirms that the bacteria commonly implicated in post-operative wound infections: S. aureus, Klebsiella, E. coli, CoNS, and P. aeruginosa, continued to dominate and have developed high level of drug resistance to some important antibiotics. Periodic surveillance of the species of bacteria involved in post-operative wound infection and determination of their antimicrobial resistance is recommended for empirical treatment. Key words: Antimicrobial resistance, post-operative, surgical, wound infection, Ethiopia, Hawassa.
Highlights
Despite advances in infection control, surgical site infections (SSIs), formerly called surgical wound infections, remain a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients (Mangram et al, 1999)
S. aureus was the most prevalent isolate with 45 (45%) samples positive followed by Klebsiella spp. (32%), E. coli (30%), coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) (26%), P. aeruginosa (16%), Proteus spp. (12%), Streptococcus spp. (9%), Citrobacter spp. (4%) and Entrobacter spp. (3%)
Out of the 100 samples collected from post-operative wound infections, 92 (92%) were culture positive yielding a total of 177 bacterial isolates
Summary
Despite advances in infection control, surgical site infections (SSIs), formerly called surgical wound infections, remain a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients (Mangram et al, 1999). They were the 3rd most frequently reported nosocomial infection, accounting for 14 to 16% of all nosocomial infections among hospitalized patients in the US (Emori and Gaynes, 1993). Surgical wound infection increases hospital stay (Poulsen et al, 1994; Mitt et al, 2005) and thereby the cost of medical treatment (Boyce et al, 1990; Kirkland et al, 1999) It doubles the patient’s risk of death after surgery (Kirkland et al, 1999). This study, aimed to find out bacterial species involved in post-operative wound infections and to determine their antimicrobial resistance pattern in Hawassa University Referral Teaching Hospital
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
