Investigation of antibiotic use in patients with acute pancreatitis in a Vietnamese hospital

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the antibiotics used in patients with acute pancreatitis and evaluate their appropriateness. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross‐sectional study on 136 patients aged 18 years or older who were diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and admitted to a national hospital in Ho Chi Minh City from January 2017 to December 2018. Medical records of patients were reviewed for data analysis, including epidemiological characteristics, pathological characteristics, treatment methods, and treatment effectiveness. RESULTS: There were 69.9% men and 30.1% women with a median age of 49.9 years. The most common etiologies included alcohol (21.3%), gallstones (23.6%), and hypertriglyceridemia (19.9%). The proportions of mild, moderate, and severe disease were 54.4, 39.0, and 6.6%, respectively. Antibiotics were given in 52.2% of patients. Although antibiotic prophylaxis was not recommended, 23.5% of cases used prophylactic antibiotics when there were no suspicion or evidence of infection. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that it is necessary to optimize the appropriateness of antibiotic indications for patients with acute pancreatitis.