A case report of intraventricular and intrathecal tigecycline infusions for an extensively drug-resistant intracranial Acinetobacter baumannii infection

RATIONALE: The treatment of intracranial Acinetobacter baumannii infections is made difficult by multidrug-resistance poor drug penetration through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Although tigecycline appears to be effective against A baumannii, it is only administered intravenously because it does not readily cross the BBB. The addition of intraventricular (IVT) or intrathecal infusions of tigecycline could revolutionize clinical therapy for intracranial A baumannii infections. However, there are few reports on the successful use of such treatments. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report the case of a 17-year-old male who presented with high fever and neck rigidity after intracranial drainage. DIAGNOSIS: Intracranial infection with extensively drug-resistant A baumannii after intracranial drainage. INTERVENTIONS: On the advice of a clinical pharmacist, the patient was administered intrathecal infusions of tigecycline after treatment failure with IVT tigecycline. OUTCOMES: The patient's body temperature returned to normal. Thereafter, the patient was in good clinical condition without signs of cerebrospinal fluid infection and tuberculosis. LESSONS: However, when central nervous system infections fail IVT tigecycline, clinicians should consider changing to intrathecal tigecycline infusions rather than raising the dose of IVT tigecycline. In addition, the co-administration of tigecycline with other drugs that can penetrate the BBB should not be ruled out.