The distribution of pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns among canine surgical wound infections in Sweden in relation to different risk factors

Background Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common nosocomial infection in dogs and a growing concern in veterinary hospitals as an increase in multidrug-resistant pathogens is reported. Despite the need for rational and prudent antimicrobial use, few peer-reviewed and published veterinary studies have investigated the pathogenic growth including susceptibility patterns of the isolated pathogens in canine SSIs. The first objective of the present study was to estimate the distribution of bacterial pathogens in dogs with SSI and to investigate whether this was influenced by type of surgical procedure (clean, clean-contaminated, contaminated or dirty), duration of hospitalization, wound classification and depth of the infection, or antimicrobial treatment. The second objective was to assess susceptibility patterns to clinically relevant antimicrobials. During three years, four animal referral hospitals and three small animal clinics submitted bacterial swabs from canine SSIs for culture and susceptibility, together with a questionnaire completed by the attending clinician.