Khadijah Yousef AL-Aali
Surgical wound infections are those infections which are confined to the incisions and involving structures adjacent to the wounds that were exposed during operation.
Aim: To determine microbial profile of surgical site infections and drug susceptibility patterns, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Method: 217 patients were included in the study. Two skin cultures were obtained, the pre-preparation, and post-preparation culture, from the surgical site by the nurse, and processing under standard method.
Result: The study revealed that bacterial infection at surgical site at least once reached 100% at post-preparation. The most commonly isolated organisms are, Staphylococcus aureus 16.1%, MRSA 3.2%, E. coli 12.9%, Acinetobacter baumannii 9.6%, were the most frequently isolated organisms, followed by Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcal), Citrobacter koseri, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with the same rate of 3.2%. The susceptibility pattern of 112 bacteria isolated against 23 antimicrobial agents. All strains were susceptible to all antibiotic, resistance was observed in some strains.
Conclusion: Meticulous surgical technique, proper sterilization, judicious use of antibiotics, improvement of operation theatre and ward environments, control of malnutrition and obesity, treatment of infective foci and diseases like diabetes, helps to control the morbidity of surgical wound infections.
