Pretreatment aerobic bacterial swab cultures to predict infection in acute open traumatic wounds: A prospective clinical study of 64 dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of initial aerobic bacterial cultures of acute open traumatic wounds to predict bacterial species in wounds that become infected. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective clinical trial. ANIMALS: Sixty-four dogs with naturally occurring acute cutaneous traumatic wounds (2017-2018). METHODS: Initial swabs were taken from each wound prior to and after lavage and debridement for quantitative and qualitative aerobic bacterial culture. Cultures were repeated on wounds that displayed any clinical sign of infection within 14 days of presentation. RESULTS: Fewer bacteria were cultured from postlavage than from prelavage swabs in 43 of 50 (86%) acute wounds. All primary clinicians prescribed ß-lactam antibiotics to the dogs at initial presentation. All bacteria cultured from postlavage/debridement cultures at initial presentation were susceptible to the prophylactic antimicrobial prescribed. Postoperative infection was subsequently diagnosed in 14 of 64 (22%) dogs; 13 of these dogs had positive culture results. No correlation was detected between the results of initial wound cultures and the subsequent development of wound infection. Bacterial species present in the initial wound swab did not correlate with those subsequently cultured from infected tissues. CONCLUSION: Results of pretreatment wound cultures from open traumatic wounds in dogs were not predictive of bacterial species subsequently recovered from infected wounds. The bacterial burden present in pretreatment wounds was not predictive of whether wounds would ultimately become infected after surgical management. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Routine bacterial culturing of acute wounds is not likely to help predict subsequent wound infection, nor is it likely to accurately guide early selection of antimicrobials to treat wounds that become infected.