Prophylactic Antibiotic Use and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Child–Pugh A Cirrhosis and Acute Variceal Bleeding: A Retrospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Prophylactic use of antibiotics was found to decrease mortality in patients with cirrhosis and acute variceal bleeding (AVB). Patients with Child A cirrhosis have a low risk of treatment failure and mortality. The present study was designed to investigate the association between antibiotics and Child-Pugh A patients with AVB. METHODS: This retrospective analysis was conducted on Child-Pugh class A cirrhotic patients presenting with AVB at West China Hospital between January 2016 and November 2022. The outcome indicators evaluated in this study include the rate of treatment failure within five days, mortality within 6 weeks, incidence of nosocomial infections, and 1-year cumulative mortality. RESULTS: This study ultimately enrolled 237 patients. The day of patients' admission was defined as Day 0. A total of 117 patients received prophylactic use of antibiotics on Days 0-1 (Group A), and 120 patients did not receive antibiotics on Days 0-1 (Group B). Baseline characteristics were well-balanced between the two groups. The 5-day treatment failure was 8.5% in Group A and 6.7% in Group B (p = 0.63). The 6-week mortality was 1.71% in Group A and 0% in Group B (p = 0.24). The incidence of nosocomial infection (5.98% vs. 6.67%, p = 1.00) and 1-year cumulative mortality (4.81% vs. 1.89%, p = 0.40) was comparable between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The antibiotics' prophylactic use was not associated with 5-day treatment failure or 6-week mortality. Prophylactic use of antibiotics may not be routinely necessary in patients with Child A cirrhosis and AVB.