Clinical manifestation and microbial profiling of recurrent MDR microorganisms associated with head and neck infection- a retrospective study

Head and neck infection (HNI) can lead to life-threatening complications, including death. The purpose of this study is to look at the entire clinico-demographic profile of patients with HNI as well as the microbiologic profile of recurring bacterial infection cases with a variety of symptoms. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 1080 HNI patients in a tertiary care hospital in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, from January 2018 to December 2022. Of the 1080 cases, 771 (71.39%) were males, 309 (28.61%) were females, and 603 (55.83%) were from rural areas reporting to a tertiary care hospital. 62% of the cases were between the ages of 31 and 60. Neck abscesses account for 570 (52.78%) of all cases, with parotid abscesses accounting for 233 (21.57%), peritonsillar abscesses accounting for 170 (15.74%), otitis media 32 (2.96%), and oral cavity infection accounting for 26 (2.41%). In 854 (79.07%) cases, the etiology was odontogenic, followed by sinus in 188 (17.41%) and otogenic in 38 (3.52%). The most common presenting features were neck swelling in 537 (49.72%) cases and face swelling in 238 (22.04%) cases, followed by jaw pain in 26 (2.41%) cases and others. Patients were hospitalized for an average of 11.824.38 days. Treatment and recurrence had a strong significant relationship (p 0.001). Microbiologic investigation of recurrent patients revealed 12 microorganisms, including bacteria and fungus, mainly multidrug-resistant in given ascending order Staphylococcus aureus (26.74%), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans (4.65%), Aspergillus fumigatus, A. flavus, A. niger, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. krusei. Apart from colistin, almost all antibiotics were highly resistant to gram-negative bacteria, whereas against S. aureus, benzylpenicillin, and oxacillin showed 100% resistance, followed by erythromycin (91.3%), levofloxacin (86.96%), and ciprofloxacin (82.61%). This exploratory study would aid in determining the HNI burden and epidemiology, as well as their treatment status.