Abstract

Infection continues to be a major complication of wounds with significant increase in costs, morbidity and potential mortality. Retrospective study of incidences of wound infection and antibiotic sensitivity pattern in patients that visited Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria, which involved the analysis of the medical records of 651 patients diagnosed from April, 2009 to September, 2010, was carried out. The medical records of the patients with wound infections showed that 77.9% of the wound sites were contaminated with various bacteria isolates, notablyStaphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella spp. in decreasing order of frequency. The most common infection site was surgical sites with amoxicillin, gentamicin and ceftriaxone, being the most commonly prescribed antibiotics for the treatment of resulting infections based on the culture and sensitivity results. The study shows that there is a high rate of wound infection in Kano, Nigeria.

Key words: Wound infections, retrospective studies, antibiotics.