DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i10.040

Pages: 3425-3429

Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSI) remain as the most common nosocomial infections in patients undergoing surgeries, despite advances in operative techniques and post-operative care. It is ranked 3rd in the most common nosocomial infections worldwide, contributing to morbidity, prolonged hospital stay and even death of the patients. This study was conducted to evaluate the current rates of Surgical Site Infections and their etiological agents in the department of Obstetrics & Gynecology (OG) in our tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods: Patients who underwent surgeries in the department of OG in our tertiary care hospital for a period of 6 months from January 2019 to June 2019 were included in the study. 2 wound swabs were taken from the wounds with SSI, and processed for bacteriological culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing according to standard operating protocols. Results: Out of 1988 patients, 84 were tested positive for SSI. The overall SSI rate in OG surgeries was found to be 4.2%. Gynecological surgeries had highest SSI rate of around 11%. Patients who underwent emergency Lower Segment Cesarean Section (LSCS) surgeries (3.9%) were found to have developed more SSI than elective LSCS surgeries (1.2%). The most common isolate was found to be Escherichia coli (30%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (27.4%). The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern showed that GNB had 98% sensitivity to Imipenem and GPC had 100% sensitivity to Linezolid and Vancomycin. Conclusion: Regular surveillance activities which provide a good knowledge of common etiological agents with their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in their hospital setup, along with other infection control practices will prevent SSI, thereby reducing the associated morbidity effectively.