Características clínicas-epidemiológicas. Pacientes hospitalizados por meningitis bacteriana. Área de clínica. Hospital José Carrasco Arteaga. Periodo 2014-2019

Abstract

Background: despite the arrival of effective antibiotics, mortality from bacterial meningitis remains significant. Previous studies show that the clinical characteristics directly influence the timely recognition and management of this pathology, in Ecuador there are no current clinical data, due to the mainly pediatric approach of the studies. General objective: to determine clinical-epidemiological characteristics of patients with bacterial meningitis in the clinical area, during the period from January 2014 to December 2019. Materials and methods: descriptive study; Universe made up of clinical histories of patients older than 18 years diagnosed with bacterial meningitis in the hospital José Carrasco Arteaga. Results: the study included 66 patients; whose mean age was 54 years. The main symptoms were headache 89.4%, confusional syndrome 86.4% and neck stiffness 84.8%. The causative agent was not identified in 59.09% of patients and the most frequently isolated germs were Klebsiella pneumoniae (13.63%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (7.6%). Mortality was estimated at 48.48%. Conclusion: Bacterial meningitis occurred more frequently in patients undergoing surgery and with skull-brain trauma. Clinical characteristics, similar to those reported internationally, occur less frequently than is commonly believed. For this reason, lumbar puncture is essential. However, the causative germ was poorly identified, so, take into account the clinical, blood analysis and imaging studies for timely diagnosis and treatment.