Objective: Pseudomonas species are widely known as opportunistic organisms that cause infections with a high mortality rate. The aim of this study is to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles of the Pseudomonas strains isolated from clinical specimens.

Materials and Methods: In this study, antibiotic resistance profiles of Pseudomonas isolates from various clinical specimens submitted to our laboratory between June 2011 and December 2013 were analysed retrospectively.

Results: The study included a total of 1105 Pseudomonas species and the distribution of the samples was as follows: 440 (39.8%) bronchial lavage, 123 blood (11.1%), 120 (10.9%) wound, 110 urine (9.9%), 95 sputum (8.6%), 74 throat (6.7%), 63 tracheal aspirates (5.7%), 61 drainage (5.6%) and 19 other (1.7%) (peritoneal fluid, pleural fluid, cerebrospinal fluid) samples. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibilities of the clinical isolates were determined by an automated system (VITEK 2, BioMérieux, France) and conventional methods by using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria. The isolates were identified as P. aeruginosa (n=1064; 96.3%), P. luteola (n=10; 0.9%), P. fluorescens (n=9; 0.8%) and Pseudomonas spp. (n=22; 2%). The rates of resistance were as follows: amikacin 28.3%, ciprofloxacin 34.8%, cefepime 37.5%, gentamicin 39.1%, ceftazidime 41.5%, levofloxacin 41.5%, piperacillin-tazobactam 45.3%, imipenem 51%, piperacillin 51.4% and meropenem 54.1%. Colistin resistance was not determined.

Conclusion: In this study, high rates of resistance to carbapenems were noteworthy. The results indicated that colistin and amikacin were more active than other antibiotics among the Pseudomonas strains tested. Monitorization of the resistance profiles of certain bacteria in each hospital setting is necessary for the determination of the appropriate empirical antimicrobial therapy and prevention of development of new resistance phenotypes.