Introduction:

Acinetobacter baumanni is a Gram-negative coccobacillus responsible for high rates of healthcare-related infections (HAI). It has a high level of intrinsic resistance to antimicrobials, in addition to the ability to acquire resistance to carbapenems and polymyxins. Furthermore, A. baumannii has the ability to produce biofilms on abiotic and biotic surfaces, which favors the infection of critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU). It should be noted that bacteria involved in biofilms have greater resistance to antimicrobials, attributed to biochemical and molecular factors and the conditions of the hosts, which makes the treatment of these infections difficult.

Objectives:

To evaluate the biofilm production by A. baumannii isolates recovered from ICU patients, as well as the antimicrobial susceptibility profile (aminoglycosides, tigecycline, carbapenems and polymyxins) among these isolates.

Methods:

A systematic review was performed according to PRISMA criteria in the PUBMED/MEDLINE, Scopus, LILACS, SciELO, and Web of Science databases.

Results:

A total of 12 articles that evaluated 1006 clinical isolates of A. baumannii, all of which were resistant to carbapenems, were included. However, most isolates remained sensitive to polymyxins B and E (94.46%). The percentage of biofilm-producing isolates was high (96.3%), and in this study the relationship between the ability to produce biofilms and resistance to the analyzed antimicrobials is not clear.

Conclusion:

More studies should be conducted to monitor antimicrobial resistance in A. baumannii, especially in biofilm producers, as the therapeutic management of infections caused by these strains becomes more complex and challenging.