Impact of Eliminating Postprocedural Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Patients without Biliary Instrumentation or Bypass Undergoing Hepatic Artery Embolization for Hepatic Malignancies

To assess the infection rate after eliminating postprocedural antibiotics in patients undergoing hepatic artery embolization (HAE) for primary and secondary hepatic malignancies.In this historical cohort study, adults ≥18 years of age without prior biliary instrumentation or bypass who underwent HAE and received pre- and postprocedure antibiotic prophylaxis between September 1, 2014, and August 31, 2015, comprised group A, whereas similar patients receiving only preprocedure antibiotic prophylaxis between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016, comprised group B. Procedures conducted between September 1, 2015, and September 30, 2015, were excluded. The primary outcome was any infection occurring within 30 days of HAE.A total of 150 patients underwent 204 HAE procedures in group A, and 171 patients underwent 221 procedures in group B. Cefazolin given as a 1-g dose (or 2 grams if obese) was administered in 391 of 425 evaluable procedures (92%). Clindamycin plus gentamicin was prescribed in 34 patients (8%) who had severe penicillin allergy. There was significant improvement in adherence to the postprocedure antibiotic regimen, from 68% (138 of 204 procedures) to 98% (216 of 221 procedures) (P.001) with elimination of postprocedure prophylaxis. There were no significant differences in 30-day infection rates (5 [3%] vs. 5 [2%]; P = .57), hospital readmissions (13 [6%] vs. 12 [5%]; P = .68), or all-cause mortality (3 [1%] vs. 3 [1%]; P = .62) between the 2 groups.Elimination of postprocedural antibiotics after HAE did not lead to an increase in infectious complications. This finding supports the 2018 Society of Interventional Radiology recommendation for preprocedural prophylaxis only for HAE in the setting of an intact sphincter of Oddi.