Prolonged ciprofloxacin administration does not accelerate neutrophil recovery after autologous bone marrow transplantation.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To determine whether prolonged ciprofloxacin administration following autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) accelerates neutrophil recovery.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis of 40 consecutive patients undergoing ABMT.

SETTING

Tertiary care bone marrow transplant program.

PATIENTS

Two sequential arms of 20 consecutive patients with Hodgkin's disease or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma undergoing ABMT.

INTERVENTIONS

The first arm received ciprofloxacin from the day of transplantation until initiation of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy (median 5 days) while the second arm continued ciprofloxacin until recovery of the neutrophil count (median 15 days).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Neutrophil recovery was similar in the two groups (16 vs 14 days; p = 0.41). There were no differences in platelet recovery, bacteremia, or treatment-related mortality.

CONCLUSION

Prolonged ciprofloxacin administration does not significantly accelerate neutrophil recovery following ABMT.