Objective: Broad-spectrum antibiotics used in empirical treatment lead to an increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria in intensive care units and hospital wards. Cumulative antibiotic susceptibility reports can guide the correct selection of empirical therapy and development of antibiotic resistance policies. In this study, we aimed to prepare a one-year inpatient cumulative antibiotic susceptibility report for our hospital.

Method: Identification of bacteria and antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed with the automated VITEK 2 (bioMérieux, France) system and antibiogram results were evaluated according to the recommendations of The European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST, 2021). The cumulative antibiotic susceptibility report has been prepared according to the criteria in the Analysis and Presentation of Cumulative Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Data (CLSI 2014, M39-A4).

Results: In this study, 1490 isolates were analysed. Vancomycin, teicoplanin, linezolid, and tigecycline were effective against gram positive agents. While tigecycline and cefuroxime were effective against enteric Escherichia coli isolates, nitrofurantoin and meropenem can be used in empirical treatment in urinary enterics. It has been observed that the most effective antibiotics against Proteus mirabilis were meropenem and amikacin. It was found that among the enteric and urinary enteric bacteria, there was no antibiotic option to be preferred in empirical treatment against Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Tigecycline was the most effective antibiotic against Acinetobacter baumannii isolates, whereas tobramycin was the most effective antibiotic against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates.

Conclusion: Empirical treatment options for gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria are limited, and we believe that close monitoring of cumulative antibiotic reports will improve and reduce antibiotic resistance rates.