Bacterial infection and acute bleeding from upper gastrointestinal tract in patients with liver cirrhosis.
OBJECTIVE
Acute bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract is a common and serious complication of liver cirrhosis. It is believed that bacterial infection may be the immediate cause of the bleeding and the latest meta-analyses show that bacterial infection is an independent predictive factor of the failure to stop bleeding.


METHODS
The authors evaluated the presence of bacterial infection (blood, urine, throat and ascitic fluid) in 35 consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis and acute bleeding with portal hypertension and compared these results with a group of 35 patients with liver cirrhosis with portal hypertension without acute bleeding.


RESULTS
According to the results obtained, there is a statistically higher incidence of bacterial infection among patients with acute bleeding with portal hypertension (25 of 35 patients, 71%) than among patients with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension without acute bleeding (14 of 35 patients, 40%, p < 0.01). The incidence of bacteriological findings in blood and throat samples is statistically higher in patients with acute bleeding as opposed to the control group (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
These results confirm the necessity of administering antibiotic prophylaxis to all cirrhotic patients with variceal bleeding, not just to those with confirmed infection or symptoms thereof.
Husová
L
L
Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Brno, Czech Republic. lhusova@fnbrno.cz
Lata
J
J
Husa
P
P
Senkyrík
M
M
Juránková
J
J
Díte
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged