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World J Hepatol. Aug 27, 2021; 13(8): 840-852
Published online Aug 27, 2021. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i8.840
Antibiotic prophylaxis in patients with cirrhosis: Current evidence for clinical practice
Alberto Ferrarese, Nicola Passigato, Caterina Cusumano, Stefano Gemini, Angelo Tonon, Elton Dajti, Giovanni Marasco, Federico Ravaioli, Antonio Colecchia
Alberto Ferrarese, Nicola Passigato, Caterina Cusumano, Stefano Gemini, Angelo Tonon, Antonio Colecchia, Department of Gastroenterology, Verona University Hospital, Verona 37124, Italy
Elton Dajti, Giovanni Marasco, Federico Ravaioli, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna 40138, Italy
Author contributions: Ferrarese A and Colecchia A participated in research design, performance of the research, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript; Passigato N, Cusumano C, Gemini S, Tonon A, Dajti E, Marasco G, and Ravaioli F participated in research design; All authors have contributed to, read, and approved the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The Authors have nothing to disclose regarding this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Alberto Ferrarese, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Verona University Hospital, p.le Stefani 1, Verona 37124, Italy. alberto.ferrarese@aovr.veneto.it
Received: February 24, 2021
Peer-review started: February 24, 2021
First decision: June 4, 2021
Revised: June 8, 2021
Accepted: July 28, 2021
Article in press: July 28, 2021
Published online: August 27, 2021
Core Tip

Core Tip: Antibiotic prophylaxis represents a cornerstone for the management of several complications of decompensated cirrhosis, as spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and variceal bleeding. Short-term antibiotic prophylaxis is often applied in many other settings during hospitalization of patients with cirrhosis, such as before interventional or surgical procedures, but often without knowledge of local bacterial epidemiology and without strict adherence to antimicrobial stewardship.