Effect of Oral Antibiotics and Bacterial Overgrowth on the Translocation of the GI Tract Microflora in Burned Rats

Abstract

Infections in burned patients were considered to arise from exogenous organisms. The therapy of burned patients emphasized the use of infection control policies and topical antimicrobial agents to reduce bacterial colonization. Even through enteric bacteria are frequently found in the burn wound little attention was paid to the patient''s GI [gastrointestinal tract] tract microflora as a potential source of organisms colonizing the burn wound. The bacteria present in the GI tract of healthy animals were studied to see if they would penetrate (translocate) through the GI mucosa and spread to visceral organs after a moderate or major thermal injury. Bacteria can translocate across the wall of the GI tract and survive in the mesenteric lymph nodes in healthy rates. When the GI tract microflora is altered, either due to bacterial overgrowth or under the influence of oral antibiotic therapy, not only will bacteria translocate to the mesenteric lymph nodes but bacteria will also spread to other visceral organs. The GI tract can serve as a reservoir for noscomial infections in the burned patient, since bacteria can translocate across the mucosal barrier of the GI tract after thermal injury and survive in visceral organs before colonization of the burn wound occurs.