RESUMO
To determine the microbiology of wound infection following caesarean section and to evaluate the use of Gram stain for the predicton of subsequent microbiological culture results, 1319 surgical wounds were followed up. We did Gram stains and cultures on exudates from open wounds and on aspirates if the wounds had demonstrable fluid collection. Incidence of post-caesarean wound infection was 8.1%. Ninety-three [86.9%] of 107 infected wounds were culture positive, with Staphylococcus aureus the most frequently found organism [42%]. Organisms seen by Gram stain yielded a sensitivity of 96.6%, specificity of 88.9%, positive predictive value of 97.7% and negative predictive value of 84.2% when used to predict positive culture results for bacterial wound infection