Esti Dhamayanti, Siti Kurniawati, Salsabila Marva Yanita Putri, Vistarina Amadora Yuscrates
Surgical site infections (SSIs) pose a threat to animal health and potentially compromise recovery after surgical procedures. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) also exacerbates SSI. Therefore, preventive measures are needed to reduce the risk of SSI during surgery, as well as surveillance of bacteria and antibiotic susceptibility. The present study aimed to observe the risk factors and prevention of SSI in canine ovariohysterectomy (OH), bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics commonly used in veterinary practice, and assess the association of surgical room environment and bacterial contamination. Nine mongrel dogs underwent OH procedures, with surgical instruments (thumb forceps, scissors, and hemostatic forceps) subjected to three intraoperative disinfection methods (70% alcohol, 10% povidone-iodine, or no treatment). Each of the surgical instruments on each disinfection method was swabbed at three points in time (0, 30, and 60 minutes) intraoperatively. Environmental conditions (humidity and temperature) of the surgical room were monitored at each sampling interval. The bacterial identification was performed using conventional microbiological methods. The identified bacteria were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility to doxycycline, enrofloxacin, cefadroxil, and gentamicin using the Kirby-Bauer method. Results indicated that 70% alcohol reduced bacterial contamination in two-thirds (2/3) of replicates, compared to 10% povidone-iodine (0/3) and untreated control (0/3). The bacteria that were identified were Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella spp. Most of the bacteria identified were susceptible to all antibiotics tested, except Klebsiella spp., which displayed resistance to gentamicin and cefadroxil, while doxycycline and enrofloxacin remained susceptible. The bacterial contamination also might be supported by the humidity and temperature of the surgical room, which is above the standard requirement. The present study findings highlighted the importance of standardized intraoperative disinfection protocols, surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility, and environmental control in veterinary surgical procedures. © The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Laboratory of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia; Laboratory of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
