Bacteriology of non-surgical wound infections in Ibadan, Nigeria

Previous studies done on wound infections in this environment had been mostly on the surgical variety rather than the non-surgical. However,few studies available on the non-surgical type have indicated that changes do occur in the pattern and antibiogram of the bacterial isolates of these non-surgical wound infections. This study was therefore designed to investigate the bacteriology of non-surgical wound infections in this environment. A retrospective review of seven hundred and fifty four cases of non-surgical wound infections was conducted between September 2002 and February 2005 at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. A total number of 871 bacterial, and seven fungal isolates were obtained from these wound cultures. In 477 (70.3%) cases, cultures were monomicrobial and 202 (29.8%) polymicrobial. Staphylococcus aureus (38%) was the predominant pathogen, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.7%), Klebsiella species (17%), Escherichia coli (10.6%), Proteus species (7.4%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (4.4%), Streptococcus species (1.6%), Enterococcus faecalis (1.4%), and Candida albicans (0.8%). High rates of antibiotic resistance were recorded among these isolates. 53.4% of them were sensitive to ceftriaxone, 42.5% to gentamycin and 39.3% to ofloxacin. This high antibiotic resistance gives credence to the value of determining the antibiogram of these pathogens in their management. Continuous interaction between the wound care practitioners and microbiology department is also advocated.