Pattern of bile cultures and antibiotic sensitivity tests in Sudanese patients diagnosed with obstructive jaundice: A...

Biliary obstruction causes bacteriobilia and significant morbidity and high mortality, which necessitates prompt and effective treatment for a good clinical outcome. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine updated knowledge of biliary microbial spectrum, antibiotic sensitivity pattern, and key clinical factors of bacteriobilia.

This is a prospective study conducted during the period between November 2021 and December 2022 at Ibn Sina specialized hospital, Khartoum, Sudan, on 50 patients diagnosed with obstructive jaundice and symptomatic bacteriobilia who underwent open biliary surgeries electively. Bile samples were aspirated intra-operatively and cultured, and antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed.

Fifty-four percent of patients diagnosed with obstructive jaundice who underwent elective open biliary surgeries were males with the ratio (2:1). Forty-six percent of patients were between 61 and 75 years (elderly). The most frequent cause of obstructive jaundice was migrating biliary stones (48% of cases). Thirty-two percent of patients were diabetic with bacteriobilia. The predominant isolated bacterial pathogen in this study was Escherichia coli (36% of cases). These biliary pathogens were sensitive to meropenem in 54% of cases and ciprofloxacin in 46%. Eventually, in all patients in this study, biliary bacterial pathogens were found to be resistant to a broad spectrum of antibiotics.

Careful selection of empirical antibiotic therapy based on surveillance of routine bile cultures during biliary tree procedures in patients with high risk of bacteriobilia will potentially help in improving the surgical outcomes and optimizing treatment of acute cholangitis, which is associated with high mortality.