Demographics and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of lower respiratory tract infections in intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in South India
Abstract
Aim: We aimed to study the distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of lower respiratory tract infections over a six–month period in the medical and surgical intensive care units at NRI Academy of Medical Sciences, in the Southern Region of India.
Methodology: This was a retrospective study conducted from June 2019 to December 2019. The study included all patients of either gender, aged above 18 y, admitted in the medical and surgical intensive care units for whom specimens for culture were positive for lower respiratory tract infections. The data was compared for the location, type, number of isolates and their antibiotic susceptibility. The data was analyzed using the
Medcalc™ software.
Results: A total of 114 patients were included in the study, out of which 78 (68.4%) were males. The maximum patients were above 60 y (29.8%). Gram–negative pathogens accounted for majority of the isolates (89%). The bacteria were isolated predominantly from the tracheal aspirate (86.8%). Out of all the isolated organisms, Acinetobacter baumannii (n = 34; 29.8%), pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 29; 25.4%) and Klebsiella (n = 27; 23.7%) were the most common gram–negative isolates, whereas in the gram–positive isolates, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus were equally isolated (n = 4; 3.5%). A. baumannii was most susceptible to colistin (97.1%) followed by minocycline (70.6%) and amikacin (64.7%). Whereas, with P. aeruginosa, it was observed that only around half of the isolates were susceptible to doripenem (51.7%) and it was also observed that most of the isolates were resistant to all the commonly used antibiotics.
Conclusion: This current study provides useful information regarding the causative organisms of lower respiratory tract infections occurring in the intensive care units and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Gram–negative pathogens were predominantly responsible for lower respiratory tract infections. Moreover, antimicrobial resistance rate was high with the most commonly used antibiotics and also to higher antibiotics such as carbapenems.
Key words: Antimicrobial susceptibility; Intensive Care Unit; Lower Respiratory Tract Infection; Antibiotic; Resistance
Citation: Cherukuri B. Demographics and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of lower respiratory tract infections in intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in South India. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2021;25(6):757-762;
Received: March 29, 2021, Reviewed: July 26, 2021, Accepted: October 18, 2021
