Drug-Induced Liver Injury Caused by Amoxicillin/Clavulanate

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) has a relatively low incidence, and as it is a diagnosis of exclusion, it can become quite a challenge for the clinician. Amoxicillin/clavulanate continues to be one of the most prescribed antibiotics and only rarely causes liver injury. We report a case of DILI associated with this antibiotic to bring attention to a rare side effect of a very commonly prescribed drug. This is the case of a 71-year-old man, with no relevant past medical history, who presented to the Emergency Department due to jaundice in the previous two weeks, with no immediate identifiable cause. The patient was admitted to our Internal Medicine Ward, and after getting a detailed clinical history and excluding other common and severe causes of liver injury, the diagnosis was made that liver injury was due to amoxicillin/clavulanate intake, thus demonstrating the importance of an in-depth history.