Antibiotics Do Not Decrease the Rate of Infection After Endoscopic Ultrasound Fine-Needle Aspiration of Pancreatic...

In spite of the weak evidence, antibiotic prophylaxis prior to endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of pancreatic cystic lesions is routinely used in the clinical practice.

To compare a group of patients treated with antibiotics before fine-needle aspiration of pancreatic cystic lesions and a group who did not undergo antimicrobial prophylaxis.

Out of 335 patients with suspected pancreatic cystic lesions referred to our center between 2006 and 2018, after propensity score matching two groups were compared: 135 subjects who underwent endoscopic ultrasound fine-needle aspiration under antibiotic prophylaxis and 135 treated with no antimicrobial agents. Primary outcome was infection rate; secondary endpoints included other complications or antibiotic-related adverse events.

Median age was 64 (interquartile range 61-68) and median cyst size was 24 mm (22-28), with no difference between groups. Overall, 10 adverse events (7.1%) of which 2 serious (1.4%) were observed in the antibiotic group and 8 (5.8%) of which 1 (0.7%) serious in the non-antibiotic group. Cyst infection was observed in 2 patients (1.4%) in the antibiotic group and 3 patients (2.2%) in the other cohort (p = 0.65).

Prophylactic antibiotics do not seem to substantially reduce this risk of infection, and their routine use should be abandoned.