Antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens from postoperative surgical site infections in a tertiary care centre...

Surgical site infections (SSIs) remain a significant cause of postoperative morbidity and are often associated with multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms. This study aimed to isolate, identify, and evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bacterial pathogens from postoperative wound infections in a tertiary care center.

A postoperative cross-sectional study conducted on 104 wound swab samples were collected from patients aged 10-90 years who underwent surgeries including exploratory laparotomy, Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and Colectomy, Hernia, Ulcer, and Cancer surgeries. Bacterial identification was carried out using selective culture media and biochemical tests, while antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method in accordance with Clinical and laboratory standard institute (CLSI) guidelines.

Out of 104 samples, 96 (92.31%) showed positive bacterial growth, while 8 exhibited no growth. Among the culture-positive samples, Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 18 cases (13.10%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated in 24 cases (17.40%). Further, 33.33% isolates of S. aureus and 37.50% isolates of the P. aeruginosa showed multidrug-resistant. However, antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that S. aureus showed 100% sensitivity to linezolid and 72.22% sensitivity to tetracycline while P. aeruginosa showed 75% and 70.83% sensitive to ofloxacin and piperacillin, respectively.

Linezolid and ofloxacin emerged as the most effective agents against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa respectively. These findings highlight the importance of continuous antimicrobial resistance surveillance to guide appropriate empirical therapy for SSIs.