Patients with burn injury are prone to multidrug resistant organisms (MDRO), and as a result, tend to have longer length of hospitalization with a higher risk for mortality, as the total body surface area (TBSA) involved increases, according to a study published in the Journal of Burn Care & Research. Researchers conducted a 2-year retrospective study of patients admitted to the ICU of a tertiary care hospital with burn injury with MDRO. Tissue cultures from 65 of 97 patients revealed the presence of MDRO in 27.8%. The most common causes of burn injury were fire burns (55.6%), with an average involvement of 29.9% of TBSA. The most common organism reported (44%) was MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Participants had an average length of
stay of 11.3 days and a mortality rate of 48.1% (overall, in all MDRO infections). “The implementation of control measures, as basic as hand hygiene, should be partaken to reduce the burden of MDR infections,” the study authors wrote.
