Purpose: Data on the microbiological epidemiology of Intra-Abdominal Abscesses (IAAs) are very scarce. We aimed to study the microbiological epidemiology of these infections in order to optimize empirical antibiotic therapy.
Patients and methods: Between January 2015 and December 2020, we retrospectively analyzed all IAAs files in our hospital. Clinical and microbiological data such as antibiotic susceptibilities were collected.
Results: We studied 243 IAA cases. All in all, 139 (57.2%) IAAs were healthcare-associated and 201 (82.7%) were drained. The highest risk situations for IAAs were appendicitis (n = 69) and diverticulitis (n = 37). Out of the 163 microbiologically documented infections, 136 (81.9%) were polymicrobial. Enterobacterales (n = 192, 36.1%), Enterococcus sp. (n = 84, 17.6%) and anaerobes (n = 66, 16.1%) were the most frequently identified bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria were susceptible to amoxicillin-acid clavulanic, piperacillin-tazobactam, cefotaxime, meropenem in 55.2%, 84.9%, 77.6% and 99.5% of cases, respectively. Concerning Gram-positive bacteria, the susceptibility rate was 81.8% for amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem, and decreased to 63.4% for cefotaxime.
Conclusion: This study highlights the polymicrobial profile of IAAs and their low susceptibility to amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. The piperacillin-tazobactam association remained the most appropriate empirical antibiotic therapy.
Keywords: Antibiotic susceptibility; Intra-abdominal abscess; Microbiological epidemiology.
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