Bacterial Species, Susceptibility to antibiotics and characteristics of patients with surgical site infections.

Surgical site infections (SSI) are the most common healthcare-associated infections. Approximately 2-5% of all surgeries develop SSI as a complication. These infections are responsible for significant fatality, morbidity, and length of hospital stay. The purpose of this study was to describe characteristics of SSI in a community hospital in Puerto Rico. This was cross-sectional study. Between July 2013 and August 2015, 5468 major operative procedures were performed and 31 SSI were reported for an overall SSI incidence rate of 0.57%. A total of 31 cases of SSI were studied. The mean age of patients was 59.4 years, with a range of to 29 to 89 years. The median age was 64 years. The sex distribution showed 22 women (71%) and 9 men (29%). The prevalence rate of diabetes mellitus was 13/31 (42%). In this study 90% of patients with SSI had at least one underlying health condition (diabetes, hypertension, obesity, age > 65 years). Location of surgical site infections were: abdominal 16 (52%), orthopedic 4 (13%), pelvic 7 (22%), stump 3 (10%), and chest tube 1 (3%). A total of 12 different bacterial pathogens were found. A single etiologic agent was identified in 18 patients (53%) and multiple agents were found in 13 patients (47%). Enterococcus faecalis was the most common pathogen (45% of patients) followed by Escherichia coli (39% of patients). The majority of bacteria isolated from cultures were susceptible to B-lactams and aminoglycosides.