RESUMO
WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Regular surveillance of antimicrobial resistance is an important component of multifaceted interventions directed at the problem with resistance of bacteria causing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in intensive care units (ICUs). Our aim was to analyse antimicrobial consumption and resistance among isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. causing HAIs, before and after the introduction of mandatory reporting of resistance patterns to prescribers. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted between January 2011 and December 2015, at an interdisciplinary ICU of the Clinical Centre Kragujevac, Serbia. The intervention consisted of continuous resistance monitoring of all bacterial isolates from ICU patients and biannual reporting of results per isolate to prescribers across the hospital. Both utilization of antibiotics and density of resistant isolates of P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. were followed within the ICU. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Resistance densities of P. aeruginosa to all tested antimicrobials were lower in 2015, in comparison with 2011. Although isolates of Acinetobacter spp. had lower resistance density in 2015 than in 2011 to the majority of investigated antibiotics, a statistically significant decrease was noted only for piperacillin/tazobactam. Statistically significant decreasing trends of consumption were recorded for third-generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones, whereas for the piperacillin/tazobactam, ampicillin/sulbactam and carbapenems, utilization trends were decreasing, but without statistical significance. In the same period, increasing trends of consumption were observed for tigecycline and colistin. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Regular monitoring of resistance of bacterial isolates in ICUs and reporting of summary results to prescribers may lead to a significant decrease in utilization of some antibiotics and slow restoration of P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. susceptibility.