Antibiotic Lock Therapy for Port Catheter-Related Infections of Children with Acute Leukemia.

Introduction Port catheters facilitate the administration of chemotherapy, antibiotics, blood products, fluid, and parenteral nutrition to pediatric patients with hematological malignancies. However, as its use has become widespread, local and systemic, catheter-related infections have emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the success of antibiotic lock therapy in port catheter-related infections of pediatric patients followed up with acute leukemia. Methods Port catheter cultures taken from a total of 182 pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic/myeloblastic leukemia who were followed up at Ankara City Hospital Pediatric Hematology Clinic between August 2019 and August 2023 were evaluated retrospectively. Results Bacterial growth was identified in 739 port catheter culture specimens of 182 patients. Closure or removal of the port was required in 91, and removal of the port catheters in 49 patients due to port catheter-related infections. Antibiotic lock therapy was started in 56 patients with bacterial growth in the port catheter. With antibiotic lock therapy, port catheter-related infections of 42 patients were eradicated, and their catheters began to be used again. As a result, the port catheter-related infections of 42 of 56 (75%) patients whose ports were closed and also received systemic antibiotic therapy were eradicated, and no infection recurrence was observed. Conclusion Adding antibiotic lock therapy to systemic antibiotics in pediatric patients may be beneficial in terms of catheter salvage.