Publication

Abstract : Treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) involves administration of myelosuppressive chemotherapy administered after admittance to hospital.1 Admission to intensive nursing care units till bone marrow recovery leads to prolonged hospital stay. Quality of life and health care issues have made many cancer centers change to outpatient care even during high-risk phases of disease.2–6 In India most patients belong to poor socioeconomic backgrounds. There is an acute shortage of hospital beds. Early discharge after myelosuppressive therapy would promote better use of hospital resources, but the safety of this approach in these patients has not been established. We present our experience of the feasibility and safety of early discharge of patients with acute myeloid leukemia after consolidation chemotherapy. All patients were induced with standard ‘3+7’ chemotherapy using a peripherally inserted central venous (PICC) line. After documentation of complete remission (CR) consolidation chemotherapy with 3 cycles of high dose cytarabine was given. Eighty-three consecutive episodes of neutropenia after consolidation chemotherapy in 28 acute myeloid leukemia patients in remission were included in the study. Patients were divided into 2 groups.