Bacteriological profiling of burn wound infections at the national burn care centre of Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: Burn wound infection is the second most important cause of death in burn patients.  The current study goal was to assess the prevalence of burn wound infection including burn types and burn-related infections, in the national burn care centre.

Methodology: This was a prospective investigation of all burn patients (n=371) admitted to Burn Care Centre, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan, between November 2021 to April 2022. Patients with less than 24 hours of hospital stay and those with incomplete records were excluded (n=23). Analysis was performed using a data-collection sheet to record demographic, microbiological, and burn data. No randomization was necessary as all patients were included. Results were deemed significant when the p-value was < 0.05.

Results: In total, 348 burn patients were included. The mean age was 17.81 years. The common burns were scald burns in the paediatrics age group while in the adult age group, flame burns were the most common. The mean total burned body surface area (TBSA) was 48.64%, while the mean length of stay in the hospital was 21.4 days for swab culture-positive patients while 13.6 for remaining individuals. The most common isolated organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (68.60%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (32.55%), and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (16.27%).

Conclusion: Our burn patients were most commonly infected with P. aeruginosa.  Surveillance and management of these microorganisms must be instigated to reduce the rate of morbidity and mortality of burn patients with infections.