Summary of clinical features of 1800 cases of pyogenic liver abscess.

Objective: This study aimed to summarize the clinical and microbiological characteristics of patients with pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) and to explore the clinical features of PLA with extrahepatic migratory infection (EMI).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data from 1800 PLA patients at Jilin University First Hospital from January 2019 to December 2023. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of EMI: with EMI and without EMI. Clinical features and prognoses of the two groups were compared using rank-sum tests and chi-square tests for continuous and categorical data, respectively.

Results: PLA patients were predominantly male (65.56%) with an average age of 60. Abscesses were mainly located in the right lobe (64.83%) and were often single (68.17%). Klebsiella pneumoniae was the primary pathogen (68.46%), with 9.50% of strains being multidrug-resistant. The majority of patients improved with effective treatment (96.17%). Compared with the non-EMI group, patients with EMI were younger, had longer hospital stays, smaller abscesses, and a higher incidence of diabetes and cerebrovascular disease, with poorer prognoses.

Conclusion: PLA is most commonly observed in middle-aged and elderly males, often presenting as single abscesses in the right lobe, with diabetes as a frequent underlying condition. Most patients recover with appropriate antibiotic treatment and ultrasound-guided drainage. PLA patients with EMI generally have poorer outcomes and require special attention.