Bacteriology of wound infections in the surgical wards of a teaching hospital

Abstract

A total of 202 swab specimens from various types of wounds, made up of 140 from surgical wounds, 46 from ulcers and 16 from other types of wounds like lacerations and sinuses, collected over a two year period January 1993 - December 1994, at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu were reviewed for the presence of aerobic bacteria and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern. Conforms were the most predominant organisms in surgical wounds, (46.2%), while in ulcers, Proteus species were the most predominant (37.2%). There was a high incidence of multiple microbial infections, 22.7% in surgical wounds and 24.6% in ulcers. There was also a high incidence of antibiotic resistance by the isolates to commonly used antibiotics like Ampicillin, Tetracycline, Cotrimoxazole and Sulphonamide. The quinolones, Ciprofloxacin and Ofloxacin were the most sensitive antibiotics (99% sensitive respectively). There is an urgent need for the restriction of the use of broadspectrum antibiotics in the treatment of wound infections.