Infections in postoperative liver transplant of the Hospital Saint Isabel

Abstract

Introduction: The liver transplant can be considered, under the surgical point of view, one of the biggest interventions that was developed until today and it has as main indications the acute or chronic liver bankruptcy caused by hepatitis C or B, or alcoholic cirrhosis. Purpose: To present the incidence and topographical distribution of the hospital infections in the Liver Transplant Unit of Santa Isabel Hospital from Blumenau, for a period from agosto/2002 to agosto/2006. Methods: this is a cohort study developed through retrospect analysis of handbooks from admitted patients for liver transplant until first month of postoperative, using the disgnostics criterions of the Control Center of Illness of the United States for the found infections. Results: 106 infections in 49 patients was identified. The localities of most frequent infections were: infection of lower airways (31%) and surgycal wound infection (23%). Staphylococcus aureus was the most isolated agent, with 26,5% of the infections, being more prevalent in surgycal wound and bacteremia infections. The main etiology of pneumonia was Klebsiella pneumonie. Conclusion: The incidence of hospital infection is 61,25%. The most common topographies of infections are surgycal wound infection and lower airways infection. The most incident agent was Staphylococcus aureus.