High Prevalence of Multidrug Resistant Bacteria in Cirrhotic Patients with Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis: Is It Time to Change the Standard Antimicrobial Approach?

INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) has a deleterious clinical impact in end-stage liver disease, and multidrug resistance has increased, raising concern about effectiveness of traditional antibiotic regimens. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Single-center retrospective study of ascitic fluid infections in cirrhotic patients. RESULTS: We analyzed medical records related to 2129 culture-positive ascitic fluid and found 183 samples from cirrhotic patients. There were 113 monobacterial SBP cases from 97 cirrhotic patients; 57% of patients were male; hepatitis C and alcohol were the main etiologies for cirrhosis. Multidrug resistant bacteria were isolated in 46.9% of SBP samples, and third-generation cephalosporin and quinolone resistant reached 38.9% and 25.7% of SBP cases. CONCLUSION: SBP due to multidrug resistant bacteria is a growing problem, and one should consider reported resistance profiles for the decision-making process of empirical first-line treatment prescription.