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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijog.2321.1636.5317.8

Abstract

Urinary tract infections are one of the most common infections encountered in clinical practice. Untreated bacteriuria during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. This study was done to detect the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy and the bacterial profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the uropathogen. This was a hospital based prospective study conducted in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Total of 232 women were included in the study after using exclusion criteria. Clean catch mid stream urine sample was collected and the sample was cultured. The organism was identified and antibiotic susceptibility was tested and data obtained was analyzed. Total of 86 patients (37.1%) were identified to have significant bacteriuria. Maximum numbers of patients were in the age group 20-25 years (37.3%) followed by 34.8 % in the age group 25-30 years. Asymptomatic bacteriuria was more frequent in multigravida (72.1%) than in primigravida (27.9%). Asymptomatic bacteriuria was most frequent in third trimester (39.5%) followed by first trimester (32.6%) and least in second trimester (27.9%). E coli was found to be the most common organism followed by Staph Aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii. Most of the organisms were sensitive to nitrofurantoin, cefotaxime, clindamycin and ciprofloxacin. High incidences of undiagnosed asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy lead to complication during pregnancy to mother and fetus. Hence it is important to do urine culture in all trimesters of pregnancy and treat appropriately if bacteriuria is detected.

Keywords: Asymptomatic Bacteriuria; Pregnancy; Urinary Tract Infection. 

Corresponding Author : Ushadevi Gopalan, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Ammapettai village, Kancheepuram District, Tamilnadu-603108.