Preventing Cefoperazone/Sulbactam Induced Coagulopathy in Critically Ill Egyptian Patients: Efficacy of Vitamin K Prophylactic Doses

One of the most challenging issues in the intensive care unit is treating multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections weighing benefit to risk ratio. MDR bacterial infection in ICU is a major public health problem and the main cause of mortality in ICUs in Egypt. A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control pointed out that the prevalence of MDR bacterial infections in the ICU was 54%.

Cefoperazone is a 3rd generation cephalosporin antibiotic covering many Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, sulbactam is a beta-lactamase inhibitor which is used in combination with many antibiotics to overcome beta-lactamase producing bacteria, therefore the combination of cefoperazone/sulbactam has activity against MDR gram-negative bacteria. On the other hand, cefoperazone has been shown to have the adverse effects of inducing coagulopathy which is reported in many case reports and retrospective cohort studies. In most cases, coagulopathy events occur within a few days from the start of using cefoperazone/sulbactam, therefore the ICU staff was obliged to discontinue the antibiotic and choose another alternative leading to increasing the risk of resistant bacteria and treatment failure. Therefore, discontinuing the antibiotic due to its serious adverse events will lead to poor outcomes, more bacterial resistance, and more cost therapeutic plans for treating the infection and managing the severe adverse drug events which have been occurred such as bleeding. There are 2 mechanisms for cefoperazone-induced coagulopathy. The first the mechanism is related to N-methylthiotetrazole (NMTT), a side chain in cefoperazone molecule, which is responsible for the inhibition of a vitamin K-dependent carboxylation process leading to antagonizing blood clotting factors. The the second mechanism is antibiotics, in general, kill the normal flora in the gut which produce vitamin K. This cefoperazone/sulbactam-induced coagulopathy is not found in healthy volunteers or patients with adequate vitamin K activity, therefore, could consider cefoperazone/sulbactam-induced coagulopathy in critically ill patients, as related to nutritional status of these patients specifically with regard to vitamin K. This study aimed at studying the effect of co-administration of prophylactic doses of vitamin k during the administration of cefoperazone/sulbactam to keep the normal daily requirements of vitamin k, therefore preventing coagulopathy.