Increased risk of pyogenic liver abscess in patients with alcohol intoxication: A population-based retrospective cohort study

•The purpose of the study was to assess the alcohol intoxication-related pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) risk.•Alcohol intoxication-related PLA exhibited a higher cumulative incidence rate as 12.2 per 10,000 person-years.•Alcohol intoxication-related risk for PLA was approximately 3.47-fold, as compared to controls.•After comorbidities were adjusted for age and gender, the adjusted risk of PLA was 2.64.•Severe alcoholism will elevate the risks for liver diseases, such as PLA.

We designed a population-based retrospective cohort study to investigate the association between the event of alcohol intoxication and the risk of pyogenic liver abscess. The present study enrolled 245,076 patients with a history of alcohol intoxication from 2000 to 2010 and matched each of them with four comparison patients, with similar mean age and sex ratios. We determined the cumulative incidences and adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of liver abscess. A significant association was observed between alcohol intoxication and liver abscess. The incidence density rate of liver abscess was 3.47-fold greater in the alcohol intoxication (AI) cohort than in the non-AI cohort (12.2 vs. 3.43 per 10,000 person-years), with an adjusted HR (aHR) of 2.64 (95% CI = 2.26 to 3.08). This population-based study positively associated the event of alcohol intoxication with increased risk of liver abscess. Our findings warrant further large-scale and in-depth investigations in this area.