PREVALENCE OF INFECTION FOLLOWING HEPATIC CHEMOEMBOLIZATION WITH CROSS-LINKED COLLAGEN WITH ADMINISTRATION OF PROPHYLACTIC ANTIBIOTICS

PURPOSE: The authors present their experience with 494 hep chemoemboli zation (HCE) procedures in 236 patients with administration of a mixtu re of cross-linked collagen and chemotherapeutic agents. The prevalenc e of infectious complications was compared in patients who did and did not receive prophylactic administration of antibiotics as part of the HCE procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fourteen HCE procedures in nine patients were performed without prophylactic antibiotics (PA). These p atients underwent embolization with cross-linked collagen alone or wit h low-dose cisplatinum. All of the remaining 480 procedures in 227 pat ients were performed with PA. RESULTS: One of the nine patients (11%) who did not receive PA experienced fatal sepsis within 24 hours of HCE . Of the 227 patients who did receive antibiotics, six (2.6%) develope d hepatic abscess and no fatal sepsis was encountered.CONCLUSION: Use of PA decreases the prevalence of infectious complications following H CE.