Prevalence of Aerobic Organisms in Surgical Site and Ulcerations at a Tertiary Rural Hospital in Mandya, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Introduction: In an era in which the cost of treatment is an increasing source of concern in wound management in surgery, wound infection increases costs and hospital stay. Aim: To study the microbial spectra, antibiotic sensitivity, different modalities of wound management and the outcome of treatment in surgical side infections and ulcerations. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary rural centre with a total of 60 cases of wounds with various aetiologies for duration of two years at AIMS, Mandya, Karnataka, India, from January 2020 to December 2021 to study demographics, prevalence and management outcome. Categorical data was represented in the form of frequencies and proportions. Results: Total 60 wound cases were further divided into three groups with 20 patients each having non specific ulcer, Surgical Site Infection (SSI) and Diabetic Ulcers (DU). The SSI was most common in patients belonging to age group 20-31 years. A total of 65% of patients who had SSI were observed among clean contaminated surgeries. Methicillin Resistant Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (MRCNS) was the most common organism causing infection in postoperative wounds, showing maximum sensitivity to vancomycin and resistance to amoxicillin. A 70% of the diabetic wounds underwent skin grafting and 70% of SSI patients underwent secondary suturing and 75% patients having an Arterial or Venous ulcers (A/V) were allowed to heal by secondary intention. Conclusion: A thorough understanding of microbial spectra and their antibiotic sensitivity is required in addition to effective wound management to improve the outcome of ulcer management.