Unresolved issues in the prophylaxis of bacterial infections in patients with cirrhosis

Towards evidence-based empiric antibiotic recommendations for spontaneous infections in patients with cirrhosis

BACKGROUND

With the emergence of multidrug-resistant infections, healthcare professionals must evaluate the effectiveness of empiric antibiotic treatments.

AIMS

To assess the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of microorganisms causing spontaneous infections in patients with cirrhosis and to evaluate the suitability of empiric antibiotic treatments based on major clinical guidelines.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study utilized two datasets from prospective studies of patients with cirrhosis and culture-positive spontaneous bacterial infections in Argentina and Uruguay. We estimated susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics and assessed coverage following European and American recommendations.

RESULTS

We analyzed 238 episodes of culture-positive spontaneous infections in 229 patients. When implementing the recommendations for empiric treatment of community-acquired spontaneous infections, ceftazidime would result in 39 % coverage, whereas ceftriaxone would reach 70 %. Cefepime, which is not included in the recommendations, would have provided coverage of 74 %. Using ertapenem for nosocomial infections would have only covered 56 % of these episodes, whereas meropenem or imipenem reached 73 % coverage. Only the combination of meropenem or imipenem plus vancomycin would achieve a coverage surpassing 85 % in healthcare-associated or nosocomial spontaneous bacterial infections.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study uncovers inadequate coverage in specific clinical scenarios when adhering to recommendations, underscoring the necessity of guidelines based on local epidemiological data.

Development and validation of prediction models for nosocomial infection and prognosis in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis

BACKGROUND

Nosocomial infections (NIs) frequently occur and adversely impact prognosis for hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. This study aims to develop and validate two machine learning models for NIs and in-hospital mortality risk prediction.

METHODS

The Prediction of Nosocomial Infection and Prognosis in Cirrhotic patients (PIPC) study included hospitalized patients with cirrhosis at the Qingchun Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University. We then assessed several machine learning algorithms to construct predictive models for NIs and prognosis. We validated the best-performing models with bootstrapping techniques and an external validation dataset. The accuracy of the predictions was evaluated through sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios, while predictive robustness was examined through subgroup analyses and comparisons between models.

RESULTS

We enrolled 1,297 patients into derivation cohort and 496 patients into external validation cohort. Among the six algorithms assessed, the Random Forest algorithm performed best. For NIs, the PIPC-NI model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.784 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.741-0.826), a sensitivity of 0.712, and a specificity of 0.702. For in-hospital mortality, the PIPC- mortality model achieved an AUC of 0.793 (95% CI 0.749-0.836), a sensitivity of 0.769, and a specificity of 0.701. Moreover, our PIPC models demonstrated superior predictive performance compared to the existing MELD, MELD-Na, and Child-Pugh scores.

CONCLUSIONS

The PIPC models showed good predictive power and may facilitate healthcare providers in easily assessing the risk of NIs and prognosis among hospitalized patients with cirrhosis.

Korean Guidelines for Use of Antibiotics for Intra-abdominal Infections in Adults

The guidelines are intended to provide practical information for the correct use of antibiotics for intra-abdominal infections in Korea. With the aim of realizing evidence-based treatment, these guidelines for the use of antibiotics were written to help clinicians find answers to key clinical questions that arise in the course of patient care, using the latest research results based on systematic literature review. The guidelines were prepared in consideration of the data on the causative pathogens of intra-abdominal infections in Korea, the antibiotic susceptibility of the causative pathogens, and the antibiotics available in Korea.