Reflections on gut decontamination in hematology.
In Europe, but decontamination (GD) is largely used in the prophylaxis of bacterial infections in departments of oncohematology treating neutropenic patients, in particular those patients subject to profound (absolute neutrophil count (ANC) <100/mm3) and prolonged (>10 days) neutropenia, such as patients undergoing bone marrow allografting or induction chemotherapy for acute leukemia. Initially, treatment was in the form of non-absorbable antibiotics, but this has been partially superseded by quinolone-containing regimens, in particular in the centers participating in EORTC trials. In the last two EORTC trials comparing different regimens for the treatment of febrile neutropenia, 57-73% of the patients were receiving GD. A French epidemiologic study, performed prospectively and consecutively in 36 oncohematology centers, has recently shown that 45% of febrile neutropenic patients receive digestive decontamination (DD) at the onset of their first febrile episode. The value of GD has been the subject of much controversy. Numerous trials, some of which were controlled, were performed in neutropenic patients in the 1980s, prior to trials of GD in intensive care units, but did not lead to a consensus in the medical community of the value of GD. Moreover, GD is not, or is infrequently, used in the USA. Apart from trials involving the quinolones, very few studies have been published during the last 10 years. Despite this, policies have not changed greatly in the various centers. The CLIOH group has gathered the opinions of experts invited to a multidisciplinary meeting that took place in Paris in October 1996. The text that follows summarizes the reflections arising from this forum. It should be noted that this meeting was not designed to be a consensus conference, but rather to re-examine the correlation between the data in the literature and actual clinical practice and to highlight the main problems posed by DD in current oncohematology. The experts were separated into three working groups, each of which has drafted a report which appears in the text below.
Buzyn
A.
A
Service d'Hématologie Adultes, Hopital Necker, Paris.
Tancrède
C.
C
Nitenberg
G.
G
Cordonnier
C.
C