amoxicillin-potassium-clavulanate-combination and Liver-Cirrhosis

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is one of the most serious complications occurring in cirrhotic patients with ascites. Therefore, an effective therapy is always required starting immediately after diagnosis. There are three aims of therapy: (1) to eradicate the bacterial strain responsible of the infection; (2) to prevent renal failure; and (3) to prevent SBP recurrence. The first end point is achievable by means of a large-spectrum antibiotic therapy. Empirical antibiotic therapy can be started with a third-generation cephalosporin, amoxicillin-clavulanate or a quinolone. The effectiveness of antibiotics should be verified by determining the percent reduction of polymorphonuclear cells count in the ascitic fluid. If bacteria result to be resistant to the empirical therapy, a further antibiotic must be given according to the in vitro bacterial susceptibility. In most cases, a 5-day antibiotic therapy is enough to eradicate the bacterial strain. Severe renal failure occurs in about 30% of patients with SBP, independently of the response to antibiotics, and it is associated with elevated mortality. The early administration of large amount of human albumin showed to be able to reduce the episodes of renal failure and to improve survival. After the resolution of an episode of SBP, the recurrence is frequent. Therefore, an intestinal decontamination with oral norfloxacin has been shown to significantly reduce this risk and is widely practised. However, such a long-term prophylaxis, as well as the current increased use of invasive procedures, favours the increase of bacterial infections, including SBP, contracted during the hospitalization (nosocomial infections) and sustained by multi-resistant bacteria. This involves the necessity to use a different strategy of antibiotic prophylaxis as well as a more strict surveillance of patients at risk.

Topics: Albumins; Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antibiotic Prophylaxis; Ascites; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; Empiricism; Humans; Kidney Failure, Chronic; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Transplantation; Peritonitis; Recurrence; Risk Factors; Time Factors

Bacterial infections are well described complications of cirrhosis that greatly increase mortality rates. Two factors play important roles in the development of bacterial infections in these patients: the severity of liver disease and gastrointestinal haemorrhage. The most common infections are spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis. Gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria are equal causative organisms. For primary prophylaxis, short-term antibiotic treatment (oral norfloxacin or ciprofloxacin) is indicated in cirrhotic patients (with or without ascites) admitted with gastrointestinal haemorrhage (variceal or non-variceal). Administration of norfloxacin is advisable for hospitalized patients with low ascitic protein even without gastrointestinal haemorrhage. The first choice in empirical treatment of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is the iv. III. generation cephalosporin; which can be switched for a targeted antibiotic regime based on the result of the culture. The duration of therapy is 5-8 days. Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and fluoroquinolones--patients not on prior quinolone prophylaxis--were shown to be as effective and safe as cefotaxime. In patients with evidence of improvement, iv. antibiotics can be switched safely to oral antibiotics after 2 days. In case of renal dysfunction, iv albumin should also be administered. Long-term antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended in patients who have recovered from an episode of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (secondary prevention). For "selective intestinal decontamination", poorly absorbed oral norfloxacin is the preferred schedule. Oral ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin (added gram positive spectrum) all the more are reasonable alternatives. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole is only for patients who are intolerant to quinolones. Prophylaxis is indefinite until disappearance of ascites, transplant or death. Long-term prophylaxis is currently not recommended for patients without previous spontaneous bacterial peritonitis episode, not even when refractory ascites or low ascites protein content is present.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Ascites; Bacteremia; Bacterial Infections; Cefotaxime; Cephalosporins; Ciprofloxacin; Fluoroquinolones; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Liver Cirrhosis; Norfloxacin; Peritonitis; Pneumonia, Bacterial; Primary Prevention; Severity of Illness Index; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination; Urinary Tract Infections

Topics: Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Antibiotic Prophylaxis; Bacterial Infections; Ciprofloxacin; Critical Care; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Administration Schedule; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Liver Cirrhosis; Opportunistic Infections; Risk Factors; Survival Rate

Septic arthritis in the elderly carries a high mortality. Underlying risk factors, such as diabetes, malignancy, chronic renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, hepatobiliary disease and AIDS, should be assessed. Rare causative organisms are occasionally encountered. Here, we describe a case of an 80-year-old diabetic patient with liver cirrhosis who developed Klebsiella pneumoniae septic arthritis, which is a rare cause of joint infection. We postulate that this case supports the notion that the patient's knee effusion seeded during a primary K pneumoniae bacteraemia of intestinal origin and related to liver cirrhosis.

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Aged, 80 and over; Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Arthritis, Infectious; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Clavulanic Acids; Fatal Outcome; Humans; Klebsiella Infections; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Knee Joint; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Ticarcillin

Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid is a commonly used antibiotic in clinical practice. It is usually prescribed on an empirical basis and several cases of hepatotoxicity with cholestasis have been described. We report the case of a 42-year-old man who developed an acute hepatocellular lesion with progression to cirrhosis. The patient received amoxicillin-clavulanic acid twice with an interval of four months. Other causes of hepatic failure were excluded. Although amoxicillin-clavulanic acid-induced hepatotoxicity has been widely documented, there are no other reports describing its progression to cirrhosis in an adult.

Topics: Adult; Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Male

Topics: Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; Drug Therapy, Combination; Erysipelas; Fatal Outcome; Female; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Middle Aged

Hepatotoxity associated with amoxicillin/clavulanic acid is usually a self-limited disease with complete recovery. We report a rapidly progressing liver disease with ductopenia and portal fibrosis in a 3-year-old boy treated with Augmentin.

Topics: Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bile Duct Diseases; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic; Child, Preschool; Cholestasis; Drug Eruptions; Drug Therapy, Combination; Humans; Jaundice; Liver; Liver Cirrhosis; Male

Selective intestinal decontamination with norfloxacin is useful to prevent bacterial infections in several groups of cirrhotic patients at high risk of infection. However, the emergence of infections caused by Escherichia coli resistant to quinolones has recently been observed in cirrhotic patients undergoing prophylactic norfloxacin. Our aim is to determine the characteristics of the infections caused by E. coli resistant to norfloxacin in hospitalized cirrhotic patients. One hundred and six infections caused by E. coli in 99 hospitalized cirrhotic patients were analyzed and distributed into two groups: group I (n = 67), infections caused by E. coli sensitive to norfloxacin, and group II (n = 39), infections caused by E. coli resistant to norfloxacin. The clinical and analytical characteristics at diagnosis of the infection were similar in both groups. Previous prophylaxis with norfloxacin was more frequent in group II (15/67, 22.4% vs. 32/39, 82%, P <.0001), as a result of a higher number of patients submitted to continuous long-term prophylaxis in this group, whereas previous short-term prophylaxis was similar in both groups. Infections were more frequently nosocomial-acquired in group II than in group I (17/67, 25.3% vs. 20/39, 51.2%, P =.01). The type of infections was similar in both groups: urinary tract infections 38 in group I and 24 in group II, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis 8 and 2, spontaneous bacteremia 4 and 4, and bacterascites 1 and 0, respectively (pNS). Mortality during hospitalization was similar in the two groups (4/67, 5.9% vs. 5/39, 12.8%, pNS). None of the E. coli resistant to norfloxacin were also resistant to cefotaxime and only one of them was resistant to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. Prophylaxis with norfloxacin, usually continuous long-term prophylaxis, favors the development of infections caused by norfloxacin-resistant E. coli. Long-term antibiotic prophylaxis should therefore be restricted to highly selected groups of cirrhotic patients at high-risk of infection. Infections caused by E. coli resistant to norfloxacin show a severity similar to those caused by sensitive E. coli. No significant associated resistance between norfloxacin and the antibiotics most frequently used in the treatment of bacterial infections in cirrhotic patients has been observed.

Topics: Aged; Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Anti-Infective Agents; Ciprofloxacin; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Drug Therapy, Combination; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections; Female; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Male; Middle Aged; Norfloxacin; Ofloxacin; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhosis is a serious complication that demands urgent attention. We report here a prospective study of the treatment of 27 episodes of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in 22 cirrhotic patients with amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. The infection of ascitic fluid was diagnosed by a positive culture plus an ascitic neutrophil count exceeding 75/microliters, or by an ascitic neutrophil count exceeding 500/microliters. The infection was treated with 1 gm amoxicillin and 0.2 gm clavulanic acid every 6 hr for 14 days. In 17 cases (63%), bacteria were isolated from the ascitic fluid. All the bacteria isolated were sensitive to amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, whereas in five cases they were resistant to amoxicillin alone (Escherichia coli in two cases, Klebsiella pneumoniae in two cases and Bacteroides fragilis in one case). Cure of the infection was achieved in 23 episodes (85%) after 14 days' treatment; 17 patients (63%) were able to leave the hospital. Fourteen of 20 patients (70%) treated for the first episode of infection died within 1 yr: eight from infection, two from gastrointestinal hemorrhage, one from infection and hemorrhage and three from tumors. One patient who had repeated infections underwent liver transplantation and has not had any infectious complications 1.5 yr after surgery. Amoxicillin and clavulanic acid may be an effective first-line therapy for ascitic fluid infection in cirrhosis. Nevertheless, the 1-yr prognosis continues to be grave and the severity of the underlying liver disease remains the most important determinant for survival.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Amoxicillin; Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; Bacterial Infections; Clavulanic Acids; Drug Therapy, Combination; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic; Middle Aged; Peritonitis; Prognosis; Prospective Studies