Table 1.
A summary of select studies of aerobic bacteria isolated from wound cultures prior to or shortly after initial debridement of war wounds during the Vietnam War and OIF/OEF
| Wound culture results prior to surgical intervention |
Wound culture results on follow-up evaluation | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | Vietnam | OIF | OEF* | Vietnam | Vietnam | Vietnam | Vietnam | OIF/OEF** | OIF/OEF*** | OEF* | |
| Reference | (44) | (47) | (21) | (51) | (44) | (44) | (22) | (10) | (33) | (57) | (51) |
| Dates of Study | 1968–1969 | May–June 1967 | 2004 | 2013–2014 | 1968–1969 | 1968–1969 | n/a | 1968 | 2003–2007 | 2007–2008 | 2013–2014 |
| Number of patients | 30 | 110 | 49 | 10 | 30 | 30 | 115 | n/a | 192 | 34 | 10 |
| Number of wounds evaluated | 63 | 112 | 61 | 13 | 63 | 63 | n/a | n/a | 145 | 91 | 11 |
| Number of bacteria isolated | 186 | 122 | 37 | 27 | 124 | 146 | n/a | 1484 | 133 | 33 | 13 |
| Timing of culture | Admission | Admission or in OR | Within ER | Day of injury | 3 days following injury | 5 days following injury | 1–2 days after transfer to Japan | While hospitalized in Japan | Within 72 hours of level V admission | Within 72 hours of level V admission | Day 3–12 post-injury |
| Gram-Positive (%) | 48 | 35 | 93 | 44 | 37 | 16 | 39 | 38 | 19 | 15 | 54 |
| Staphylococcus aureus (%) | 4 | 70 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 22 | n/a | 89 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. (%) | 52 | 14 | 86 | 8 | 37 | 35 | n/a | 11 | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| Enterococcus spp. (%) | 6 | 16 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | 56 | 60 | 57 |
| Gram-Negative (%) | 52 | 65 | 7 | 56 | 63 | 84 | 61 | 57 | 81 | 85 | 46 |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa (%) | 3 | n/a | 0 | 0 | 21 | 34 | n/a | 43 | 12 | 0 | 17 |
| A. baumannii complex (%) | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | n/a | - | 53 | 71 | 0 |
| Mimeae-Herellea-Bacterium-Alcaligenes group (%) | 30 | - | - | - | 18 | 13 | n/a | - | - | - | - |
| Escheriae coli (%) | 17 | 14 | 33 | 0 | 18 | 10 | n/a | 32 | 6 | 4 | 34 |
| Proteus spp. (%) | 2 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | n/a | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Enterobacter spp. (%) | 25 | 42 | 0 | 7 | 19 | 21 | n/a | 14 | 16 | 7 | 17 |
| Klebsiella spp. (%) | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | n/a | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Serratia marcescens (%) | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | n/a | n/a | 0 | 0 | 0 |
ER: Emergency room, OR: operating room, n/a: not available, level V: tertiary care hospital within the continental United States
*
Cultures from mangled lower extremity injuries only
**
Cultures from open tibial fractures only
***
Cultures from biopsy of open wounds being treated with vacuum-assisted wound closure devices