Background: Wound infections contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality in surgical patients.rnFactors that increase the risk of wound infection include patient conditions such as; age, obesity,rnmalnutrition, smoking, and the state of the wound which includes nonviable tissue in the wound, foreignrnbodies, long surgical procedures, and others. However microorganisms are the major causes with bacteriarnbeing the most prevalent. Severe and poorly managed infections can lead to gas gangrene and tetanusrnwhich may cause long-term disabilities. Bacterial wound infections are a common finding in open injuries..rnObjective: The study aimed to identify bacteria that cause wound infections and to determine theirrnantimicrobial patterns in the pediatric surgical wards at Yekatit 12 Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.rnMethod: A cross sectional study was conducted from December 2016 to April. A total 150 clinicalrnspecimens were collected from study participant. All wound samples were cultured on Blood agar andrnMacConkey agar. All culture positive samples were characterized by gram stain and biochemical testsrnusing the standard procedure. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed using Kirby-Bauer method.rnAll demographic, laboratory and risk factors data obtained were entered and analyzed using SPSS versionrn20.rnResult: The burden of wound infection among pediatric patients was 123 (82%). Of which 90 [65.7%]rnwere gram positive and 47 [34.3%] were gram negative bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus 79[52.7%] was thernmost prevalent followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa 26 [17.3%] and Proteus spp 14 [9.3%].Patients whornhad mixed infections were 8.67% of the total participants. Staphylococcus aureus was highly sensitive tornceftriaxone but resistant to ceftazidime [91.1%]. Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus formed 50.6%rnof the Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Beta hemolytic Streptococcus was highly sensitive to amoxicillinrnclavulanate and resistant to cefuroxime. Escherichia coli was sensitive to ciprofloxacin but resistant tornamoxicillin clavulanate, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, imipenem and ceftazidime. Klebsiellaspp was sensitive tornall the antibiotics that were tested. Proteus mirabilis was sensitive to all the antibiotics except ceftazidime.rnThe Non lactose fermenters were only sensitive to imipenem, ciprofloxacin and cefoxitim. Pseudomonasrnaeruginosa was highly sensitive to ciprofloxacin and imipenem but less sensitive to ceftazidime andrnresistant to ceftriaxone.Ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, flucloxacillin and amoxicillin clavulanate were widelyrnused beside other antibiotics for either prophylaxis or treatment of the wound infections.rnConclusion: The prevalence of wound infection remains high despite wide use of antibiotics in thernpaediatric surgical wards. Resistance to new antibiotics like imipenem was observed.rnKey terms: Bacterial isolates, antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, surgical site infection