Anti-microbial sensitivity patterns of bacterial isolates from surgical site infections in obstetrics and gynaecology

Objective: to find out the most common bacterial pathogens responsible for surgical site infections and their antimicrobial sensitivity profile. materials and methods: this descriptive study was carried out in obstetrics and gynaecology unit c khyber teaching hospital,peshawar,from june 2012 to may 2013. samples were collected from the patients showing signs of surgical site infection,using sterile swabs and sent to laboratory for identification of micro organisms by gram-stains and culture growth followed by in vitro antibiotic susceptibility testing. results: during the study period,a total of 937 patients underwent major abdominal surgeries,of them 46 patients (4.90%) developed surgical site infections. a total of 36 pathogens were detected. staphylococcus aureus (30.4%) was the predominant organism followed by pseudomonas aeruginosa (22.2%),escherichia coli (16.7%) and enterbacter species (8.3%). staphylococcus aureus exhibited good sensitivities to vancomycin (100%),amikacin (91%),ciprofloxacin (83.3%). low susceptibility patterns were observed to 2nd and 3rd generation cephalosporins. sensitivity pattern of p-aeruginosa showed 100%,87.5%,75% sensitivity to imipenem,piperacillin-tazobactum,amikacin and respectively. however,low susceptibility patterns were observed to cephalosporins and amoxicillin-clavulonic acid. escherica coli had good susceptibility patterns for amikacin (100%),imipenem (100%),piperacillin-tazobactum (100%),ciprofloxacin (80%). conclusion: staphylococcus aureus remains the most common pathogen involved in surgical site infections. since a high proportion of samples had positive cultures,infection control is recommended as a strategy to minimize spread of resistant organisms. © 2008 khyber medical college peshawar.