Bacteriology of Wounds Infections in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Wound infections are one of the leading causes of patient's morbidity, which ends in financial loss to both patient and hospital. Delayed treatment drug resistance due to indiscriminate use of antibiotics is implicated as the cause of chronicity of wounds. Empirical treatment without culturing the causative agent somehow lessens the delay of treatment, but actually is leading to the rise of resistant strains in the community. It is obligatory to know the prevalence of causative agents to implicate the early treatments without wait for the culture reports. MATERIAL AND METHODSThis study was done to identify the prevalent organisms of wounds and its susceptibility to antimicrobials. 100 pus samples from different wounds of 100 patients, both inpatients and outpatients attending Viswabharathi Medical College at Kurnool were collected. All the pus samples were processed by gram staining of the direct smear, inoculating on to nutrient agar, blood agar, and MacConkey agar and incubated overnight at 37 0 c. Culture morphology and gram staining was done from the positive growth. Confirmation was done by biochemical reactions and necessary special tests. Results: 100 wound samples yielded 105 isolates. Among the total 105 isolates, the gram negative isolates were dominating and accounted for 53.33% and gram positive accounted for 46.66% only. In the overall study, Staphylococcus remained as predominant isolate and is 100% sensitive to vancomycin, Linezolid. CONCLUSIONThe accurate identification of culture isolates may be a useful tool to provide appropriate antibiotic and help in reducing the drug-resistant strains in wound infections. This study provides better guidance for the clinicians to cure wounds without delay and much waste of antibiotics that ultimately prevents the resistant strains and saves the economy of both patient as well as hospital.