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Prophylactic Use Of Levofloxacin During Induction Of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia In Children-Experience From
Palwasha Rehman1, Zunaira Shaukat1, Haleema Saeed1
1Department of Pediatric Oncology, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan.
Insights
Prophylactic Levofloxacin significantly reduced febrile neutropenia episodes in chemotherapy patients. However, this antibiotic did not impact infection-related mortality during the induction phase.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Febrile neutropenia is a common and serious complication during chemotherapy.
- Prophylactic antibiotics are sometimes used to prevent infections in immunocompromised patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic Levofloxacin in reducing febrile neutropenia episodes.
- To assess the impact of Levofloxacin prophylaxis on induction mortality.
Main Methods:
- A single-centre, case-control study design.
- Prospective data collection for patients receiving Levofloxacin prophylaxis during induction chemotherapy.
- Comparison with historical controls who did not receive antibiotic prophylaxis.
Main Results:
- Levofloxacin prophylaxis was associated with a significantly lower rate of febrile neutropenia episodes (p≤0.01, OR: 0.23).
- No significant difference in induction mortality was observed between the Levofloxacin group and the control group (p≤0.14).
Conclusions:
- Prophylactic Levofloxacin effectively reduces febrile neutropenia episodes in patients undergoing induction chemotherapy.
- Levofloxacin prophylaxis does not appear to influence infection-related mortality in this patient population.
Abstract:
To assess whether prophylactic use of Levofloxacin would reduce the number of febrile neutropenia episodes during the induction phase, a single-centre, case-control study was carried out. Data was collected prospectively of patients who received Levofloxacin prophylaxis during the induction chemotherapy from September 2019 till October 2020. The cases were compared with historical controls who did not receive antibiotics prophylaxis. A total of 121 patients were enrolled, among which 61 patients were cases, whereas 60 patients were controls. The patients who received Levofloxacin prophylaxis had lower rate of febrile neutropenia episodes than patients who did not receive any prophylaxis (p≤0.01) (odds ratio [OR]:0.23, CI 95%). No significant difference in induction mortality was seen between the two groups (p≤0.14). Levofloxacin prophylaxis reduced the rate of febrile neutropenia episodes among patients, but it did not affect the infection related mortality.
