[Management of low-risk febrile patients with neutropenia]

For years the classical approach to febrile episodes in patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia consisted of hospital admission and intravenous administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics. However, since the end of the 1980s, it has been known that not all episodes of neutropenia carry the same risk of developing complications. These low risk febrile patients with neutropenia, that is, those without a clear focus of infection, without criteria for severe sepsis, and with an expected duration of neutropenia of less than 7-10 days, could benefit from outpatient oral antibiotic therapy or, failing this, from intravenous administration through a perfusion pump in the home. The present study analyzes the current situation of the new treatment modalities that aim to improve patients' quality of life and to optimize healthcare resources and costs.