[Post chemoterapy febrile neutropenia. Length of stay and experience in our population]

Introduction: Infections are significant cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients (mortality is estimated at around 3%). Febrile neutropenia often leads to the hospitalisation of cancer patients, increasing the risk of nosocomial infection, as well as health costs due to the hospital admission.

Methods: An ambispective (01 July 2015 - 12 July 2018) observational study was conducted on all episodes of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia in a paediatric population. A record was made of age, gender, weight percentile (WHO), length of hospital stay (days), temperature (oC), microbial isolation, infectious source, antibiotic or antifungal prophylaxis, haemoglobin (g/dl), platelets (/mm³), neutrophils (/mm³), lymphocytes (/mm³), monocytes (/mm³), CRP (mg/L) and procalcitonin (PCT) (ng/ml) on admission, and days with neutropenia<500/mm³. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSSv.23 program.

Results: The study included 69 patients, and 101 episodes were recorded. The mean stay was 7.43 days (median 6 days). Microbial isolation was found in 44.6% of the episodes, with no infectious source identified in 36% of them. An inverse correlation was found between haemoglobin, platelets, and lymphocytes on admission and the hospital stay (-0.356: P=.001, -0.216: P=.042, and -0.216: P=.042, respectively). The mean stay was greater if there was a CRP>90mg/L (10.94 vs. 6.66 days, P=.017), if PCT>1ng/ml (16.50 vs. 6.77 days, P=.0002), if ≤ 100 neutrophils (8.27 vs. 5.04 days P=.039) on admission, and if there was microbe isolation (9.54 vs. 5.78 days P=.006).

Conclusion: The relationship between haemoglobin, platelets, and lymphocytes on admission and the mean stay is inversely proportional. In addition, those patients with ≤100 neutrophils, CRP>90mg/L, and PCT>1ng/ml on admission had a longer hospital stay.