Introduction: Febrile neutropenia (FN) induced by chemotherapy (ChT) arises until 6 weeks after the last cycle, usually between 5 and 10 days post-ChT. Infection risk is 20%–30%. It is difficult to stratify patients with low risk of complications due to FN. MASCC index is useful but has limitations. This correlates with unnecessary hospital admissions, complications, and costs. Methods: Retrospective study of patients with diagnosis of FN induced by ChT, admitted to our center between 2012 and 2016. Primary goal was to describe this population. Secondary goal was to re-stratify the risk of FN using MASCC and CISNE indexes, clinical judgement, and social/logistic factors. SPSS v23 was used for statistical analysis. Results: 211 patients were included; median age, 66 years. Median hospital stay was 6 days (1–89). 25% were nosocomial admissions. At admission 46% of patients presented with stage IV cancer. 75% were solid neoplasms and 25% were hematologic. Profound neutropenia was observed in 43% and severe neutropenia in 36%. Overall mortality rate was 13%. Sepsis was diagnosed in 24 patients (11%), with a mortality rate of 54%. Only 12.3% of patients had prophylaxis with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor. At admission, 64% of patients had no obvious focal infection; 20% had probable focus; and in 16% a microorganism was identified, most commonly gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae. Most used antibiotics were piperacillin/tazobactam (44%) and its combination with aminoglycoside (34%). This combination showed benefit against some extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing strains and multiresistant (MR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.8%). MASCC index identified 31% of patients with low risk FN. After applying the CISNE index, clinical judgement, and social/logistic factors, only 11% were identified as low-risk FN and did not benefit from admission. This translates to an avoidable cost of €48,000 according to the center’s annual report. Conclusion: The combination of β-lactam and aminoglycoside is overused in our practice. It is not recommended in hemodynamically stable patients and contradictory in unstable ones; still it shows some effect versus MR and ESBL strains. A study to evaluate their incidence in our center is now in progress. Low risk FN was observed in 11% of admitted patients. Our center has an internal protocol and has been able to provide a good overall response.
BPI19-010: Febrile Neutropenia Induced by Chemotherapy: Impact of Risk Re-Stratification
Introduction: Febrile neutropenia (FN) induced by chemotherapy (ChT) arises until 6 weeks after the last cycle, usually between 5 and 10 days post-ChT. Infection risk is 20%–30%. It is difficult to stratify patients with low risk of complications due to FN. MASCC index is useful but has limitations. This correlates with unnecessary hospital admissions, complications, and costs. Methods: Retrospective study of patients with diagnosis of FN induced by ChT, admitted to our center between 2012 and 2016. Primary goal was to describe this population. Secondary goal was to re-stratify the risk of FN using MASCC and CISNE indexes, clinical judgement, and social/logistic factors. SPSS v23 was used for statistical analysis. Results: 211 patients were included; median age, 66 years. Median hospital stay was 6 days (1–89). 25% were nosocomial admissions. At admission 46% of patients presented with stage IV cancer. 75% were solid neoplasms and 25% were hematologic. Profound neutropenia was observed in 43% and severe neutropenia in 36%. Overall mortality rate was 13%. Sepsis was diagnosed in 24 patients (11%), with a mortality rate of 54%. Only 12.3% of patients had prophylaxis with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor. At admission, 64% of patients had no obvious focal infection; 20% had probable focus; and in 16% a microorganism was identified, most commonly gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae. Most used antibiotics were piperacillin/tazobactam (44%) and its combination with aminoglycoside (34%). This combination showed benefit against some extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing strains and multiresistant (MR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.8%). MASCC index identified 31% of patients with low risk FN. After applying the CISNE index, clinical judgement, and social/logistic factors, only 11% were identified as low-risk FN and did not benefit from admission. This translates to an avoidable cost of €48,000 according to the center’s annual report. Conclusion: The combination of β-lactam and aminoglycoside is overused in our practice. It is not recommended in hemodynamically stable patients and contradictory in unstable ones; still it shows some effect versus MR and ESBL strains. A study to evaluate their incidence in our center is now in progress. Low risk FN was observed in 11% of admitted patients. Our center has an internal protocol and has been able to provide a good overall response.
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