Introduction:

Patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery require post-surgical care in the Intensive Care Unit, an inadequate postoperative management has a negative impact on the patient’s recovery and increases the probability of presenting organic complications.

Objective:

To determine the incidence of lower respiratory tract infection and identification of microorganisms in postsurgical patients of cardiovascular surgery.

Material and methods:

This is a descriptive, observational, transversal and retrospective study. The period covered was from January to December 2017.

Results:

147 cases were reviewed, where 47% corresponded to women and 53% to men, with an average age of 53.70 ± 15.70 years. Regarding the diagnosis of admission, severe aortic stenosis predominated, registering 29.93% of the cases. The surgery that was most performed was the aortic valve change (40.82%). Regarding the isolation of microorganisms, 76.87% of the patients were negative or not performed; however, Staphylococcus epidermidis stood out with 4.76%. Of the patients who were positive for isolation, 26.47% were sensitive to nitrofurantoin, 11.76% to trimethoprim with sulfamethoxazole, and 8.82% to fluconazole and levofloxacin, respectively. Regarding the evolution of patients, 90.50% had a good prognosis; in the case of complications, 64.63% did not present any.

Conclusion:

The presence of lower respiratory infections in patients postoperated by cardiovascular surgery, combined with resistance by administered antibiotics, represents a global problem, and that significantly affects the efficient medical attention due to the failure of treatments in the Intensive Care Areas.

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