When to use antibiotics in the cirrhotic patient? The evidence base.
Bacterial infections are very common in advanced cirrhosis and are a leading cause of death of these patients. Early and appropriate empirical antibiotic treatment of infection is essential in determining patient's outcome. A strategy of careful restriction of prophylactic antibiotics to the high-risk populations could contribute to the reduction of multidrug resistant bacteria. This article reviews and reports the current knowledge in the use of antibiotics in the cirrhotic patient.
Second Department of Gastroenterology, Evangelismos Hospital, Athens, Greece (Jiannis Anastasiou).
Jiannis
J
Anastasiou
Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London (Roger Williams).
Roger
R
Williams
Cirrhosis; antibiotics; bacterial infection