Abstract
Infections are among the most common adverse events affecting patient safety. Among the various healthcare-associated infections (HAI), surgical site infection (SSI) is a serious postoperative complication occurring in approximately 2–5% of surgical procedures and accounting for an estimated 10–40% of all HAI. Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for more than 20% of SSI, and many such infections are caused by multidrug-resistant strains. A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted over three years. Pus samples from suspected cases of SSI were processed by standard bacteriological methods. Methicillin resistance in S. aureus was screened using the cefoxitin disc, and antibiotic susceptibility was determined by the Kirby–Bauer disc-diffusion method in accordance with CLSI guidelines. The overall rate of SSI was 10.8%. Klebsiella spp. (26.9%), S. aureus (23.1%) and Escherichia coli (22.4%) were the most common isolates. Of 541 S. aureus isolates, 364 (67.3%) were MRSA. Compared with methicillin-sensitive strains, MRSA showed significantly higher resistance to clindamycin, co-trimoxazole, clarithromycin and doxycycline, while remaining fully susceptible to linezolid and tigecycline. HAI are among the most frequent adverse events threatening patient safety and are often caused by multidrug-resistant organisms such as MRSA. Reliable estimates of their burden are hampered by a paucity of local data. This study generated institutional data on postoperative MRSA infections that can inform surgical teams and help prioritise infection-prevention interventions.
Keywords: Healthcare-associated infections; Surgical site infection; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Antibiotic susceptibility