Prevalence of bacterial isolates of post caesarean wounds from hospitals in Otukpo, Benue state, NigeriaC

Abstract

Sepsis after caesarean section (CS) is still a major problem in our hospitals. A large percentage of caesarean section wound infections arise from preventable causes which if addressed could significantly reduce rate of wound sepsis. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of bacterial pathogens associated with post caesarean wound infections and determine their relationship with some risk factors. A prospective descriptive study was conducted in randomly selected hospitals in Otukpo which included 278 women (mean age; 26.94) who underwent surgical procedure for delivery. Data were collected from patients following wound examination and compared in terms of surgical site infection and study variables (age, parity, type of CS, type of incision, duration of hospital stay and duration of Labour. Out of the 278 caesarean sections, 187(67.3%) were emergency procedures and 91 (32.7%) were elective procedures. Twenty three of the cases developed surgical site infections (SSI). Staphylococcus aureus (n=11; 47.83%) was the most commonly isolated organism followed by E. coli (n=5; 21.74). Caesarean section infection was found to be common in women who had emergency CS (p<0.0001), who had longer duration of Labour and hospital stay (p<0.0001) and had sub-umblical type of skin incision (p<0.0001). Development of infection following caesarean section is multifactorial and can be minimized or prevented if health care professionals develop and implement strict protocol for performing caesarean sections.