Features of the postoperative course in patients with neck phlegmona depending on the biofilm formation ability of microorganisms

Abstract

Phlegmons of the neck are characterized by rapid inflammation, intensive intoxication, frequent purulent mediastinitis development. The insufficiently high efficiency of treatment of neck phlegmon is often associated with the formation of biofilms by microorganisms, which are found on drains, catheters and on the wound surface. The purpose of the study was to determine the biofilm formation ability of infectious agent of a phlegmon of the neck and to evaluate their influence on the inflammatory response. The treatment results of 38 patients with deep neck phlegmons were analyzed. 64 strains of pathogens were identified. The highest values were determined in Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. A strict correlation between the biofilm formation ability of microorganisms and the disease duration was revealed. The correlation between the biofilm formation ability of pathogens and the timing of the appearance of granulations in wounds was weak. Clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Klebsiella Pneumoniae reliably had a more pronounced ability to form biofilms of cocci, which increases the probability of their colonization of drains. The connection between the biofilm formation ability of bacteria and resistance to antibiotics was revealed. A correlation was established between the ability of microorganisms to form biofilms and the duration of the disease, which can be considered as a marker of the prognosis of the disease course. Bacteria in a biofilm are more resistant to antibiotics effect. Therefore, one of the treatment directions should be the suppression the form biofilm’s ability and the destruction of already existing ones.

Keywords: phlegmon, bacterial biofilms, resistance to antibiotics.