Liver Abscesses — Seven-Year Experience of a Single Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract We reviewed medical records of cases of liver abscesses (LA) registered in Rīga East University Hospital clinical centre “Gaiïezers” from January 2012 to October 2018 to assess sociodemo-graphic factors, clinical, laboratory, microbiological and radiological findings, as well as therapeutic modalities and their efficacy associated with LA. A total of 95, including five recurrent, cases were included in this study. No statistically significant differences in gender distribution were found. Mean patient’s age was 64.5 ± 15.9. The most common documented risk factors for the development of LA were underlying biliary tract abnormalities (37.9% of cases), and diabetes mellitus (12.7%), while in 21.1% of cases, LA were defined as cryptogenic. Most patients presented with fever (70.5%); right upper abdominal pain was reported in 61.1%, while vomiting and / or nausea — in 25.3% of cases. The most common isolates identified from LA were Klebsiella pneumonia (40.3% of cases), mainly in monomicrobial LA, and Escherichia coli (22.6% of cases), predominantly in polymicrobial LA. Ceftriaxone and metronidazole intravenous formulations were used in 35.5% cases as the principal antimicrobial combination at hospital. Median overall expected duration of antimicrobial treatment was 15 days. LA drainage was performed in 87.4% of cases for the median duration of seven days. In 86.3% of cases both approaches were combined.