A retrospective exploratory analysis on surgical site infections in a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the highest reported complications of surgery and serious postoperative nosocomial infections associated with patient morbidity, prolonged hospitalization, and economic burden. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of SSIs, bacterial profile, and their antimicrobial susceptibility among patients who underwent surgery and subsequent SSIs at a tertiary care hospital in a coastal district of Karnataka, India. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted by collecting the data of patients diagnosed with SSIs at tertiary care hospital during the period of four years from 2018 January to 2021 December. Data analysis was performed to estimate the prevalence of SSI, determine the bacterial profile and their antibiotic susceptibility using Jamovi software. Results: Among 95611 patients who underwent surgery, a total of 443 (0.46%) patients were clinically diagnosed with SSI. Maximum SSI cases were obtained from the Department of Orthopaedics (42.2%), followed by General Surgery (22.3%) and Neurosurgery (6.5%). Staphylococcus aureus (39.0%) was the most predominant bacteria among the isolates, followed by Escherichia coli (19.04%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (10%). A total of 55.6% of Staphylococcus aureus exhibited methicillin resistance. Most of the bacterial isolates were susceptible to Trimethoprim sulphamethazole, Gentamycin and Amikacin. Conclusions: Though the prevalence of SSI is less it requires due attention to prevent the SSIs in the hospitals. Identification of risk factors help in planning the preventive strategies. Consistent Infection control practices are implemented in hospital for preventing the transmission of diseases, strengthening the antimicrobial stewardship program and regular antimicrobial surveillance.