Prospective risk assessment of bacteremia and other infectious complications in patients undergoing EUS-guided FNA

Background. There are few data regarding the risk of bacteremia with EUS-guided FNA. This study prospectively evaluated the frequency of bacteremia and other infectious complications after EUS-guided FNA. Methods: Patients referred for EUS-guided FNA of the upper GI tract lesions were considered for enrollment. Patients were excluded if there was an indication for preprocedure administration of antibiotics based on ASGE guidelines, had taken antibiotics within the prior 7 days, or if they had a pancreatic cystic lesion. Blood cultures were obtained immediately before the procedure, after routine endoscopy/radial EUS, and 15 minutes after EUS-guided FNA. Results: Fifty-two patients underwent EUS-guided FNA at 74 sites (mean 1.4 sites/patient) totaling 266 passes of the fine needle (mean 5.1 FNA/patient). Coagulase negative Staphylococcus was grown in cultures from 3 patients (5.8%; 95% Cl [1%, 15%]) and was considered a contaminant. Three patients (5.8%; 95% Cl [1%, 15%]) developed bacteremia: Streptococcus viridans (n = 2), unidentified gram-negative bacillus (n = 1). No signs or symptoms of infection developed in any patient. Conclusion: EUS-guided FNA of solid lesions in the upper GI tract should be considered a low-risk procedure for infectious complications that does not warrant prophylactic administration of antibiotics for prevention of bacterial endocarditis.