Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To analyze the clinical characteristics and drug resistance of Ralstonia pickettii infection in the general intensive care unit (ICU), providing a reference for the rational use of antibacterial agents in clinical practice.
METHODS Clinical data were collected from 125 patients detected with R. pickettii in the general ICU of Liuzhou People's Hospital from Jan. 2021 to Dec. 2024. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the drug susceptibility test data of R. pickettii and the clinical characteristics of the patients.
RESULTS A total of 217 strains of R. pickettii were detected in 125 patients, with a detection rate of 0.25% (217/86 882), showing an increasing trend year by year (χ2=147.283, P<0.001). The specimens were mainly from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (56.16%) and sputum specimens (43.15%). Among the 125 patients, there were 84 males (67.20%), with an age of 69.00 (57.00, 80.00) years old. There were 78 patients (62.40%) aged ≥65 years, all of whom had comorbidities, including hypertension in 70 cases, renal insufficiency in 41 cases, coronary atherosclerotic heart disease in 38 cases, cerebral infarction in 36 cases, diabetes mellitus in 27 cases, tumors in 11 cases and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 10 cases. The detection time of R. pickettii was mainly within 3 to 14 days after admission (50.40%), followed by 14 to 28 days (31.20%). During hospitalization, other bacteria besides R. pickettii were detected in 116 patients (92.80%). R. pickettii exhibited high resistance rates (>75.00%) to commonly used clinical antibacterial agents. Eighteen patients died or were discharged automatically before the results of R. pickettii were reported. Among the 107 inpatients, 14 (13.08%) were already taking sensitive antibacterial agents, with 10 (71.43%) showing improvement; additionally, 77 (71.96%) changed sensitive antibacterial agents, with 46 (59.74%) showing improvement; and 16 (14.95%) did not change antibacterial agents, with 8 (50.00%) showing improvement.
CONCLUSIONS In the general ICU, patients infected with R. pickettii often have multiple underlying diseases, with the lungs being the primary site of infection, and mixed infections are common. It is necessary to comprehensively evaluate the patient's infection status and develop an individualized antibacterial agent treatment plan.