Clinical and Demographic Characteristics of the Culture Results of Patients Applying to the Emergency Department

Hıncal Ş. Ö., Karamercan M. A., Ödemiş İ.

Bagcilar Medical Bulletin, cilt.5, sa.4, ss.216-223, 2020 (Hakemli Dergi)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 5 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.4274/bmb.galenos.2020.09.064
  • Dergi Adı: Bagcilar Medical Bulletin
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.216-223
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Objective:

Culture examination is a frequently used diagnostic method in emergency departments. This study was performed to investigate the frequency of culture examinations that were sent from the emergency department and also the rate of positive results and the most frequently isolated pathogens.

Method:

This is a retrospective cohort study. We retrospectively investigated the cultural results of the patients who were admitted to the emergency department between 1st Jan 2016 and 31st March 2017. The demographic datum, medical diagnosis, the culture type, and the results were recorded from the hospital records.

Results:

Totally 70,934 culture tests were sent from 45,100 patients between study dates. 1.1% of the cultures were sent from the emergency department. There was colonization at 16.8% of the cultures; this ratio was 33.6% in the cultures that were sent from the emergency department. The cultures were more frequently positive in emergency medicine when we compared them to those in the whole hospital. The positivity rate was higher in wound and abscess cultures but very low in gaita cultures.

Conclusion:

The further detailed studies about the cultures sent from the emergency department on the basis of a specific disease and antibiotic resistance will be instructive about prophylactic antibiotic use in the emergency department.

Keywords: Bacteremia, culture analysis, emergency department, microbiology