Spontaneous Bacterial Empyema in Cirrhotic patients with Hepatic hydrothorax.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the frequency of spontaneous bacterial empyema in cirrhotic patients with hepatic hydrothorax. Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional study. Setting: Conducted in gastroenterology unit at Isra University Hospital, Hyderabad. Periods: One year from April 2016 to March 2017. Material & Methods: Sample of 174 patients of Hepatic Hydrothorax was taken. Patients were of both gender and age ≥ 18 years, having diagnosed cirrhosis since last 5 years and currently having child class B & C severity were included. Hepatic hydrothorax was confirmed on ultrasound chest. After aseptic measures 50ml of pleural fluid was aspirated and sent to Isra University Hospital laboratory following the ultrasound guidelines. Spontaneous bacterial empyema was assessed as “polymorph nuclear cell count” more than 500 cells/mm³ or +ve culture with PMN cell count more than 250 cells/mm³ without parapneumonic effusion. All the data was recorded in the proforma. Results: The mean ± SD age of patients was 53.52 ± 5.52 years. Males were 60.92% while 39.08% were females. The frequency of spontaneous bacterial empyema was about 14.9%. Frequency of spontaneous bacterial empyema was little more in male gender than females (p value = 0.391), while it was significantly increased with increasing age as most common in age group of 61-65 years (p-value = 0.017). Conclusion: It was concluded that spontaneous bacterial empyema in cirrhosis patients was 14.9%.