BackgroundDifferent studies have indicated that urinary tract infections frequently occur in both community and hospital environments and are of the most common bacterial infections in humans. the outcomes of urinary tract infections are increased hospitalization, increased direct patient costs and mortality. In Dessie, the prevalence of the commmon pathogens and antibiotic susceptibility pattern is not well studied sofar. Thus, the aim of this study is to address these gaps in the study area.MethodsRetrospective study was conducted in Dessie regional health reseacrh laboratory from January 1-March 31, 2012. All culture and antibiotic susceptibility test results of patients’ diagnosed with UTI from September 2002 to September 2011 G.C were included in the study. Data were abstracted using structured questionnaires and finally, entered into SPSS Windows version 16.0, and descriptive statistics was generated to meet the study objective.ResultsDuring the last ten years 680 (27.35%) bacteria were isolated in the regional laboratory. The most commonly isolated were E. coli 410 (60.29%), Pseudomonas species 59 (8.68%), Proteus species 53 (7.79%), S. aurous 50 (7.35%) and Klebsiella species 40 (5.88%). The E.coli were susceptible to Nitrofurantoin 43 (89.6%), furantoin 124 (87.3%), Nalidixic acid 91 (86.7%), kanamycin 116 (80%) & ciprofloxacin 66 (71.7%) but were almost resistant to Ampicillin, tetracycline, & trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Similarly Pseudomonas and proteus species were resistant to almost all antibiotics except Gentamycin.ConclusionThe E.coli, pseudomonas and proteus species were the commonly isolated bacteria in the regional health research laboratory. A majority of isolated bacterial microbes were resistant to antibiotics commonly used in clinical practices and generally available in the local economy without prescription. Culture results are necessary before initiating antibiotics.