Abstract
BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections are hospital-acquired, vary from one hospital to another, and can cause significant postoperative morbidity, mortality, and prolonged hospital stay. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the study was to identify the bacterial pathogens associated with surgical site infections and their antibiotic susceptibility in a public hospital in northern Jordan. METHODS: Postsurgical wound samples were collected and processed in a microbiology laboratory using standard microbiological techniques. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using 13 antibiotics covering the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria using the disc diffusion test. RESULTS: The bacterial species that were identified in this study include Escherichia coli 8 (29%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3 (11%), Proteus mirabilis 1 (3.5%), Klebsiella pneumoniae 4 (14%), Salmonella enterica 2 (7%), Staphylococcus aureus 8 (29%), Staphylococcus epidermidis 1 (3.5%), and Streptococcus pyogenes 1 (4%). The antibiotic profiles of these bacteria showed high resistance. The MAR indices showed that 17 of 28 bacteria isolated were above 0.2 indicating high resistance. CONCLUSION: Resistant bacteria are becoming more dominant in wound infections with a high prevalence of multidrug resistant isolates. Hospital disinfection and treatment protocols regarding the use of antibiotics should be practiced vigorously and monitored regularly to combat resistance.