Albumin improves bacterial peritonitis outcomes

(HealthDay)—For patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), albumin infusion is associated with reduced renal impairment and decreased mortality, according to research published in the February issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Francesco Salerno, M.D., from Università degli Studi di Milano, and colleagues conducted a literature review and meta-analysis that included four randomized controlled trials involving 288 patients with SBP (three trials comparing albumin with no albumin; one trial comparing albumin with artificial colloid). The effect of albumin infusion on renal impairment and mortality was examined.

Among the studies, the researchers found no evidence of statistically significant heterogeneity or publication bias. The incidence of renal impairment was 30.6 percent in the control groups and 8.3 percent in groups given albumin. The likelihood of renal impairment was significantly reduced after albumin infusion (pooled odds ratio, 0.21; range, 0.19 to 0.30 in the individual studies). Mortality was higher among controls compared with patients who received albumin (35.4 versus 16.0 percent). After infusion of albumin, there was a significant decrease in the likelihood of mortality (pooled odds ratio, 0.34; range, 0.16 to 0.55 in the individual studies).

"In this meta-analysis, albumin infusion in patients with SBP decreased renal impairment and mortality," write the authors. "These salutary effects of albumin infusion were remarkably consistent from trial to trial."

Two authors disclosed financial ties to CSL Behring, which supported the study.