Assessment of Burn Wound Infection By Swab and Biopsy Culture: A Comparative Study

• Main Authors: Somaye Abdollahi Sabet, Ali Kabir, Mahshid Hormazdi, Siamac Esfandi, Mohammad Ali Bahar, Ali Manafi, Nosratollah Bouduhi, Hamid Karimi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Iran University of Medical Sciences 2008-08-01
• Series: Medical Journal of The Islamic Republic of Iran
• Subjects: Burn; Infection; Swab; Biopsy.
• Online Access: http://mjiri.tums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-47&slc_lang=en&sid=1
• ISSN: 1016-1430; 2251-6840

Background: Wound infection is a frequent and severe complication in burn patients accounting for a high number of mortalities. There are some reports comparing swab and biopsy cultures of wounds of various etiologies or chronic wounds.Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate burn wound infection by different bacteriologic methods of surface swab and tissue biopsy culture and see if   they can predict the outcome.Methods: Aprospective study was conducted in Shahid Motahari Burn Center,Tehran ,on patients suffering from burns with more than 20% of TBSAadmitted in 2001-2002. Wound swab and biopsy specimens were collected within the second week.Patients were followed to the point of their discharge or death.Results: Bacterial growth was reported in 100% of swabs, in 89.3% of the biopsies   in differential culture media,and in 18.7% of the biopsies in selective culture media.These different cultures had similar pathogen reports. Of the 75 studied patients,78.7% died. The frequency rates of positive tissue cultures and bacterial load were not different between the dead and those who survived.Conclusion: Bacteriologic methods do not have enough predictive value to assess clinical outcome.