The aim of the study was to investigate the causative agents of bacteremia in burned patients during 1999-2003.
Material and methods: All case records of 82 burned patients with bacteremia treated at the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns of Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital were analyzed during 1999-2003.
Results: Mean body surface area burned in bacteremic patients was 29%. Bacteremia was diagnosed, on an average, on the 15th day after hospitalization and the 16th day after the burn. The causative agent of bacteremia in 71% of cases was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; 11% of bacteremias were caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and in 78% of cases Pseudomonas was sensitive to gentamicin. In all years, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was the most common agent of bacteremia. Altogether, 55 patients out of 82 recovered. The mean duration of inpatient treatment was 48 days.
Conclusions: Bacteremia was diagnosed at the beginning of the third week of hospital stay. More than half of bacteremic patients (67%) survived. The most common causative agents of bacteriemia were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and gentamicin-sensitive strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.