Microbiological profile of postoperative peritonitis in intensive care units

Abstract

Introduction: Postoperative peronitis (POP) is a serious complication, difficult to control especially with the emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria. The aim of this work was to study the epidemiological characteristics and the bacteriological profile of POP. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study over a period of 6 years, from 01/01/2014 to 31/12/2019. Results: Thirty-nine cases were collected, 31 of which have a positive culture of peritoneal swab. POP were characterized by a male predominance (sex-ratio: 1.61). Patients over 60 years old were mainly affected (64.7%). The main antecedents observed were abdominal surgery (89.7%) and neoplastic disease (77%). The most frequent etiology of postoperative peritonitis was anastomotic leakage (38.5%). The culture was multi-microbial in 48.4% of cases. Sixty-nine strains have been isolated. Seventy one per cent were aerobic bacteria, 21.7% were anaerobic and 7.3% were yeasts. The distribution of germs varied according to the stage of the initial intervention. Enterobacteriaceae were more prevalent in the supramesocolic stage (62.5%). In the sub-mesocolic stage, anaerobes and enterobacteriaceae accounted respectively for 28.9% and 31.1% of isolated microorganism. Multidrug resistant bacteria (n=19) were isolated in 61.3% of cases. Conclusion: Considering the high rate of multi-resistant bacteria, the prevention and management of POP is a major challenge. Constant analysis of microbiological data remains essential.