Abstract
Background
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
is a major cause of healthcare-associated infections and is increasingly associated with antimicrobial resistance. Continuous local surveillance is essential to monitor evolving resistance patterns and inform empirical antimicrobial therapy and antimicrobial stewardship.
Methods
This retrospective laboratory-based surveillance study analyzed non-duplicate
P. aeruginosa
isolates recovered from hospitalized patients at a secondary healthcare setting in Saudi Arabia between 2018 and 2024. Resistance phenotypes were classified as multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and difficult-to-treat resistance (DTR) according to established international definitions. Temporal trends were evaluated using logistic regression.
Results
A total of 368 non-duplicate
P. aeruginosa
isolates were included. Respiratory tract specimens were the most common source of isolates. MDR prevalence increased from 51.0% in 2018 to a peak of 87.3% in 2022 before declining to 69.6% in 2024, while XDR reached its highest prevalence of 68.3% in 2023 before declining to 39.1% in 2024. When year was analyzed categorically, significant differences across years were observed for MDR (P
Conclusion
This seven-year surveillance study demonstrated a substantial burden of antimicrobial resistance among
P. aeruginosa
isolates, with significant year-to-year variation in MDR and XDR prevalence. These findings provide locally relevant surveillance data that may inform empirical antimicrobial therapy, antimicrobial stewardship, and ongoing institutional resistance surveillance.