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FREQUENCY OF SEPTIC WOUNDS AND ITS SOURCE OF INFECTION AT A TERTIARY CARE UNIT

Dr. Munazah Aizaz, Dr. Samia Iftikhar, Dr. Muhammad Waqas

Objective: Skin is the largest organ of body and plays an important role in protecting against germs. Damage to skin through cut, surgical incision, burn and road traffic accident etc. make it susceptible for micro-organisms to invade our body. Septic wounds further put stress on immune system of already injured person and hence increase morbidity and mortality. Approximately 38% of the human population is colonized with Staphylococcus aureus. It is a leading cause of wound complication, soft tissue and skin infections, infective endocarditis, bacteremia and sepsis etc. The purpose of our study is to determine frequency of septic wound infections. Methodology: It was a cross sectional study done at surgical wards, burn center, orthopedic department and intensive care unit of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from June 2019 to July 2019. We obtained 100 consecutive pus samples from wounded patients presenting with clinical symptoms of septic wound. The collected samples were transported aseptically to the microbiology laboratory for culture within 30 minutes and segregation was done on the basis of infection site such as knee joints, burn sites and operated sites etc. Data was analyzed in the form of frequency and percentage with Microsoft Excel. Results: Out of 100 patients, there were 62 (62%) males and 38 (38%) females. Mean age of our patients was 28.91 ± 5.56 years, ranging from 20 – 50 years. Out of 100 pus samples, 70 (70%) had septic wound with S. aureus growth out of which methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus (MSA) was 45% and methicillin resistant S. Aureus (MRSA) was 50% and 5% were resistant to Vancomycin. 4 patients (4%) had fungal infections while 18 patients (18%) showed only gram negative rods and all were Catalase test negative and 8 (8%) were MDRO (multi drug resistant organism). Source of infection was also found to be significant factor as 55 patients (55%) had poor unhygienic condition, 40 patients (40%) showed poor or improper dressing. Conclusion: Staph aureus is the most common cause of septic wound infection, which may be due to hospital acquired infections and nosocomial due to improper unhygienic condition. There is special need of strategy implementation to control hospital acquired and nosocomial infections for a healthy community. It is recommended that consultants should update their knowledge due to continuously emerging antimicrobial resistance. Keywords: infected wound, Staphylococcus Aureus, MRSA, VRSA, MDRO.

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