Incidence and risk factors for infections after liver transplant: single‐center experience at the University Hospital Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

The incidence of infections in liver transplant patients is higher compared with recipients of other organs, and infections are one of the major complications after transplantation. The aim of our study was to evaluate the incidence, presentation and risk factors of infections in liver transplant recipients in a Latin-American population, and to compare the results with data worldwide. We performed a retrospective analysis of 94 consecutive patients undergoing liver transplantation between 2004 and 2008 at the University Hospital Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia. The patients contributed a total of 64.4 person years (PY). Fifty-two patients (55.3%) developed one or more infections, in total 83 events (128.9 infections/100 PY). Bacterial infections represented the most frequent event (71.1%), followed by viral (19.3%) and fungal infections (8.4%). In 1%, no causative organism was identified. More than one-third of infections (37%) occurred during the first 30 days, whereas 83% of all events were seen during the first 6 months. The most common site of pathogen localization was the bloodstream (25.3%), followed by the urinary tract (15.7%), liver with bile tract (14.5%), abdomen (10.8%), surgical site (7.2%), and lungs (9.6%). The overall mortality after 1 year was 14.9%, and 57.1% of the deaths were attributed to infections. We found that risk factors significantly associated with increased incidence rate ratio for infection were prolonged stay at the intensive care unit, the need for parenteral nutrition, and blood transfusion requirement. Our data provide additional information about etiology and epidemiology of infections after liver transplantation.