International Journal of Pathogen Research

Surgical site infections (SSI) are infections at or around the site of incision where surgical procedure is conducted. It is a major cause of hospital morbidity, resulting in prolonged hospital stay, increased treatment costs, higher rates of re-operation, and even increased mortality rates. The etiological agents of superficial surgical site infections among post-operative patients attending a Teaching Hospital in Southeastern Nigeria were evaluated using standard microbiological methods. Seventy superficial surgical wound swab specimens were properly and aseptically obtained from post-operative patients after ethical clearance was duly obtained from the hospital’s ethical committee. Pure microbial cultures were obtained after 24 - 48 hours incubation, aerobically at 25^oC, on blood, nutrient and Sabouraud’ Dextrose agar plates. The isolates were identified based on their morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular characteristics. Out of the 70 surgical swab specimens collected, 81% were bacterial isolates which included Staphylococcus aureus 41%, Escherichia coli 16%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 14% and Staphylococcus xylosus 10%. The fungi isolates (19%) were Candida tropicalis 8% and Trichosporon asahii 11%. These isolates were probably endogenous and exogenous flora from the patients’ and hospital’ environments respectively; thereby necessitating the need for adequate patient care before, during and after surgical procedures.