[Bacteriology of surgical wound infections in oncological head and neck surgery]

Surgical wound infections are a frequent complication of head and neck cancer surgery. In a group of 159 consecutive patients we analyzed bacteriological cultures from 21 with suppurative draining from the wound. In 3 cases cultures were monomicrobial, in 12 cultures were polymicrobial, and in 6 no bacterial isolate was obtained from the cultured material. Gram-positive aerobes were the most frequent bacteria (54%), followed by gram-negative aerobes (38%) and anaerobes (8%). No relation was found between bacteriological profile, antibiotic prophylaxis, tumor site, tumor stage, or surgical procedure.