Prophylactic sequential antibiotic therapy for recurrent liver/biliary sepsis

Recurrent liver/biliary sepsis are rare and can occur in different situations. Curative treatment of acute septic episodes is based on antibiotics. Nevertheless, recurrent sepsis can be life-threatening, and the treatment of the underlying disease could be complex, and eventually not possible. The aim of the present study was to report our experience on prophylactic sequential antibiotic therapy for recurrent liver/biliary sepsis in a large cohort of patients with long follow-up.

All patients who received a prophylactic sequential antibiotic therapy for recurrent liver/biliary sepsis in our institution from 2005 to 2020 were included. Prophylactic sequential antibiotic therapy was based on per os antibiotics with expected antibacterial activity on digestive bacteria, mainly Gram-negative bacilli. The primary end-point was the reduction of the number of septic episodes to 1 or less episode per year, and not severe (not requiring hospitalization).

Were included 33 adult patients and the main initial disease/condition leading to prophylaxis was history of hepaticojejunostomy (78.8%). The majority of septic episodes required hospitalization (57.6%). First line prophylactic sequential antibiotic therapy was weekly ciprofloxacin in all cases. First line therapy was successful in the long-term in 19 patients (57.6%), with a median follow-up of 92 months (range: 25-206). Global efficacy (first-second-third lines) was 28/33 (84.8%).

The results of the present study with very long follow-up suggest that prophylactic sequential antibiotic therapy can successfully prevent recurrent liver/biliary sepsis with good tolerance.