# Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of aerobic bacteria responsible for post-surgical wound infection of the patients admitted into Khulna Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh

## TL;DR

This study examines bacterial infections after surgery in Bangladesh and finds which antibiotics are most effective against them.

## Contribution

The study provides new data on antimicrobial resistance patterns in post-surgical wound infections in Bangladesh.

## Key findings

- Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common pathogen (36%) in post-surgical wound infections.
- Ciprofloxacin showed the highest overall effectiveness (75%) against the identified bacterial pathogens.
- Diabetic patients and those undergoing hand surgery were most affected by post-surgical wound infections.

## Abstract

Resistance against antimicrobial agents is dramatically increasing and gradually impacting treatment costs. Using existing drugs would have helped avoid bacterial infections in various circumstances. The primary objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of pathogens responsible for postsurgical wound infections and their antimicrobial susceptibility and resistance pattern among the patients admitted to Khulna Medical College Hospital, Khulna Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study involved 250 patients suffering from postsurgical wound infection as respondents. The bacterial pathogens were isolated from pus samples obtained from those patients. The isolated bacterial pathogens were identified through several standard biochemical tests, and finally, the culture sensitivity tests of those bacterial isolates were performed. The study was conducted from August 2019 to June 2020. Data regarding the patient’s age, gender, occupation, surgery performed, duration of hospital stay, and comorbidity were also documented using standard questionnaires. Five bacterial pathogens were identified with different frequencies, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (36 %), Escherichia coli (21.2 %), Staphylococcus aureus (8.8 %), Klebsiella spp. (7.2 %) and Proteus spp. (4.8 %). These bacterial pathogens showed sensitivity to ciprofloxacin (75 %), piperacillin-tazobactam (56.7 %) and gentamicin (50 %). Besides, S. aureus showed sensitivity to linezolid and vancomycin and resistance to cefuroxime, ceftazidime and imipenem. Male patients (68.4 %) suffered more from postsurgical wound infection than female patients (31.6 %). Patients aged 31 to 40 years were more severely affected than patients from other age groups. Postsurgical wound infection was vigorously observed in the patients who underwent hand surgery. Intensive occurrence of this infection was found in the patients who stayed in the hospital from 31 to 40 days. Diabetic patients suffered more from postsurgical wound infection compared to the other patients. Throughout the study, ciprofloxacin has been the best performer against E. coli, Klebsiella spp., and Proteus spp., and gentamicin showed better performance against S. aureus. The antibiotic resistance pattern of these bacterial pathogens reflects the worldwide necessity of rational antibiotic management and proper steps to maintain hospital hygiene in Bangladesh.