Desta, Kassu (Assistant Professor)Mahmud, Tofik2018-07-032023-11-062018-07-032023-11-062017-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/6031Background: Wound infections contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality in surgical patients. Factors that increase the risk of wound infection include patient conditions such as; age, obesity, malnutrition, smoking, and the state of the wound which includes nonviable tissue in the wound, foreign bodies, long surgical procedures, and others. However microorganisms are the major causes with bacteria being the most prevalent. Severe and poorly managed infections can lead to gas gangrene and tetanus which may cause long-term disabilities. Bacterial wound infections are a common finding in open injuries.. Objective: The study aimed to identify bacteria that cause wound infections and to determine their antimicrobial patterns in the pediatric surgical wards at Yekatit 12 Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted from December 2016 to April. A total 150 clinical specimens were collected from study participant. All wound samples were cultured on Blood agar and MacConkey agar. All culture positive samples were characterized by gram stain and biochemical tests using the standard procedure. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed using Kirby-Bauer method. All demographic, laboratory and risk factors data obtained were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Result: The burden of wound infection among pediatric patients was 123 (82%). Of which 90 [65.7%] were gram positive and 47 [34.3%] were gram negative bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus 79[52.7%] was the most prevalent followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa 26 [17.3%] and Proteus spp 14 [9.3%].Patients who had mixed infections were 8.67% of the total participants. Staphylococcus aureus was highly sensitive to ceftriaxone but resistant to ceftazidime [91.1%]. Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus formed 50.6% of the Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Beta hemolytic Streptococcus was highly sensitive to amoxicillin clavulanate and resistant to cefuroxime. Escherichia coli was sensitive to ciprofloxacin but resistant to amoxicillin clavulanate, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, imipenem and ceftazidime. Klebsiellaspp was sensitive to all the antibiotics that were tested. Proteus mirabilis was sensitive to all the antibiotics except ceftazidime. The Non lactose fermenters were only sensitive to imipenem, ciprofloxacin and cefoxitim. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was highly sensitive to ciprofloxacin and imipenem but less sensitive to ceftazidime and resistant to ceftriaxone.Ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, flucloxacillin and amoxicillin clavulanate were widely used beside other antibiotics for either prophylaxis or treatment of the wound infections. Conclusion: The prevalence of wound infection remains high despite wide use of antibiotics in the paediatric surgical wards. Resistance to new antibiotics like imipenem was observed. Key terms: Bacterial isolates, antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, surgical site infectionenBacterial isolatesAntimicrobial susceptibility patternSurgical site infectionThesis