Prevalence of Bacterial Infection in Burn Injuries

Introduction: Thermal injury causes the destruction of dermo-epidermal barrier, a natural isolator, which then speeds up the bacterial contamination of the burn wound. Patients and methods: The study is of a retrospective-descriptive character and covers the period from Jaunary 1st 2004 through December 30th 2006. During the survey we took and analyzed the bacterial swabs of 54 patients with burn injuries. Goal: The goal of our study was to present the frequency rate of the infection with the patients with burn injuries treated at the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic in Sarajevo. Survey results: Infection was not found with only 7 patients (14,5%). The most frequent causes of infection in the control group of patients were as follows: S. epidermidis (27,4%), S. aureus (21,6%), P. aeruginosa (19,6%). Conclusion: The presence of infection and antibiotic resistance of the isolated bacteria were the cause of a prolonged hospitalisation as well as increased treatment costs of the patients with burn injuries.