Pesq. Vet. Bras. 33(6) Hospital or nosocomial infections are infections acquired during patient hospitalization, and that can be related to surgical and invasive procedures performed during the hospital admission. The present study aimed to investigate the occurrence of nosocomial infection in animals treated at a Veterinary Surgical Center of Small Animals, submitted to surgical or invasive procedures, to discuss the possible causes of infection, to detect the bacteria present when possible, and to verify the antimicrobial sensitivity of these agents. The study was developed through daily monitoring of 131 animals admitted in this surgical center and doing active surveillance of cases of nosocomial infection. In 104 animals (91 dogs and 13 cats), 113 surgical procedures were performed, and in 27 animals were performed non-surgical procedures such monitoring of delivery and postpartum, urethral catheterization and placement of splints. All animals were submitted to catheter placement for fluid therapy and application of medications and/or anesthetic at some point during hospitalization. The rate of surgical site infection was 7.96%, and by categories was 4.54% in clean surgeries, 4.25% in clean-contaminated surgeries, 10.53% in contaminated surgeries, and 16% in infected surgeries. The rate of non-surgical nosocomial infection in surgical patients was 2.88% and in the non-surgical patient was 3.7%. Bacteria were cultured as follows: Pseudomonas sp. (3), Streptococcus sp. (2), Acinetobacter sp. (1) and Gram negative bacilli (1), and high bacterial multidrug resistance were observed in all isolates. The duration of surgery and pre and postoperative time of hospitalization did not affect the occurrence of nosocomial infection, but factors that probably contributed to the occurrence of infections in this study were the severity of the condition responsible for the treatment, the kind of procedure performed and the severity of lesions.

ResumoAs feridas traumáticas em cães e gatos são freqüentes na rotina da clínica veterinária. Em sua maioria são decorrentes de mordidas e atropelamentos. Muitas dessas feridas tornam-se contaminadas ou infectadas, não respondendo ao tratamento utilizado. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar os dados de animais com feridas traumáticas contaminadas e infectadas que apresentaram complicações durante o tratamento, como aumento da secreção, alteração da sua cor ou cicatrização inadequada, identificar as bactérias presentes nestas feridas e sua suscetibilidade a antibióticos e verificar se os antibióticos utilizados no início do tratamento eram adequados. Para isso realizou-se o acompanhamento de 18 animais (17 cães e um gato) com ferimentos de origem traumática, que não apresentaram boa evolução do quadro com o tratamento tópico e sistêmico instituído. Realizou-se a coleta da secreção de cada ferida com swab e posterior cultura em ágar sangue, obtendo-se 20 isolados bacterianos. Os bacilos Gram negativos foram detectadas em 70 % dos casos, sendo Pseudomonas o gênero predominante (30%), seguido pelo Proteus (20%). Dentre os Gram positivos (30% dos casos), Staphylococus e Streptococcus foram isolados com igual freqüência. Verificou-se susceptibilidade muito baixa das bactérias encontradas aos antimicrobianos testados (7% a 58,33%), enfatizando a necessidade de realização destes testes em bactérias isoladas de animais com ferimentos contaminados e infectados que não respondem adequadamente ao tratamento tópico e sistêmico. Palavras-chave: Feridas, cães, gatos, infecção, bactérias, antibiograma AbstractTraumatic wounds in dogs and cats are frequent in a clinician veterinarian's routine. Most of them occur due to either bites from other animals or car accidents. As a result, many wounds become contaminated or infected and do not respond to treatment. The objectives of this study were to evaluate animals with traumatic wounds that present such complications during treatment as increased secretions, change in the color of these secretions or unsuitable healing, to identify bacteria in those wounds and their susceptibility to antimicrobials, and to verify if antimicrobial therapy instituted earlier in the treatment was adequate. To reach this, 18 animals (17 dogs and one cat) with traumatic wounds that presented an unsatisfactory healing process after topic and systemic treatment were used. In these cases, a swab from the wound secretion and bacterial culture in blood agar were performed. Twenty bacterial isolates were obtained. Gram negative bacilli were found in 70% of the cases, and Pseudomonas was the