Introduction:

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a common complication and an urgent situation in the field of infections in cancer patients, with a considerable impact on mortality if not managed appropriately.

Objective:

To describe the main clinical and microbiological characteristics of cancer patients with febrile neutropenia.

Materials and Methods:

This was a descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study. We included patients aged 0-16 years with a diagnosis of febrile neutropenia who were admitted to the Onco-Hematology Unit of a high-complexity hospital between January and June 2024.

Results:

We included 75 pediatric patients up to 16 years of age, in whom the following results were observed: an average age of 6 years, a predominance of females, and neutropenia categorized as high risk in the majority. Regarding the treatment phase of the underlying disease in the study population, the majority of patients were in the induction phase of leukemia treatments. We identified that the onset of post-chemotherapy fever in the study population was on average 3 days after admission.

Conclusions:

Regarding the microorganisms isolated in blood culture upon admission of patients, in most cases negative blood cultures were obtained, while in a minimal percentage Pseudomona aeruginosa and other Gram-negative microorganisms were identified. Regarding the frequency of complications in the study population, no complications were observed in the vast majority.

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