Microbiological cultures and antimicrobial prophylaxis in patients undergoing total pancreatectomy with islet cell autotransplantation.

To the Editor: Total pancreatectomy with islet cell autotransplantation (TPIAT) is a viable treatment option upon failed endoscopic and med-ical therapy for patients with chronic pancreatitis. This proce-dure involves surgical removal of the entire pancreas, isolation of islet cells and re-infusion of these cells into the liver via portal vein [1,2]. The risk of contamination to the final islet cell product can occur at several stages of the isolation procedure [3] . In order to ensure the sterility of the islet cell product, multiple samples from the preservation and cannulation solution, and the final islet cell product are sent for bacterial cultures. Prior studies have found variable clinical consequences of these cultures on infectious com-plications or graft function [3-9] . Herein we aimed to determine the incidence of infection in 60 days post-TPIAT and its association with the culture data.