Surgical antibacterial prophylaxis in patients undergoing liver transplantation: systematic review of randomized clinical trials

Abstract

Surgical site infection (ISS) is an important complication of liver transplantation and remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Suitable antibacterial prophylaxis is an essential tool to reduce the incidence of ISS, but the literature seems to lack the best evidence on this subject. The research project will be conducted at the Department of Tropical Diseases and Imaging Diagnosis, Botucatu School of Medicine/UNESP - Botucatu-SP. A systematic review of the literature will be performed in accordance with the Cochrane methodology and aim to map all the clinical trials identified in the main database to assess the efficacy and risks of various regimens of antibiotics for antibacterial prophylaxis in patients undergoing liver transplantation. The following databases will be searched: PubMed, CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library), Embase, and Lilacs. We will consider randomized controlled trials comparing any scheme of antibacterial agent(s) versus placebo, another antibacterial agent, or a combination of two or more antibacterial agents. We will also consider all the doses, routes of administration (except for enteral route), and duration of prophylactic antibacterial therapy. The data collection and analysis will be performed independently by two reviewers that will select potential studies for inclusion in the review. The title of this systematic review is already registered with the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review journal, with an impact factor of 5.912.(AU)