ObjectiveTo compare the clinical features of bacterial liver abscess (BLA) with or without diabetes and provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment.MethodsThe clinical data of 312 patients with BLA admitted to Huaian First People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2016 to January 2020 were collected. The differences in the clinical symptoms and signs, results of laboratory, imaging, etiological tests, treatment methods, and outcomes of the patients between with and without diabetes were compared.ResultsA total of 312 patients with BLA were collected, 128 BLA patients with diabetes and 184 BLA patients without diabetes. ① There were no significant differences in gender and age between patients with and without diabetes, but the boby mass index of BLA patients with diabetes was higher than that of the patients without diabetes [(25.54±4.99) kg/m2 versus (23.75±3.92) kg/m2, t=3.546, P<0.001]. ② In terms of etiology, the main cause of BLA was the biliary tract infection [37.18% (116/312)]. The incidence of cryptogenic infections in the BLA patients with diabetes was significantly higher than that of the BLA patients without diabetes [39.06% versus 26.63%, χ2=5.386, P=0.020]. ③ In terms of clinical manifestations, the fever was the main symptom of BLA [97.76% (305/312)]. The incidences of abdominal pain and percussion pain in the liver area of BLA patients with diabetes were significantly lower than those in the BLA patients without diabetes [32.03% versus 51.63%, χ2=11.793, P=0.001; 15.63% versus 30.98%, χ2=9.572, P=0.002]. ④ In terms of laboratory tests, compared with the patients without diabetes, the albumin level was lower [(30.88±5.25) g/L versus (33.67±4.33) g/L, t=–5.139, P<0.001], the procalcitonin level and neutral cell ratio were higher [(44.22±39.56) μg/L versus (36.03±22.73) μg/L, t=2.312, P=0.021; (86.68±7.05)% versus (80.73±8.12)%, t=6.710, P<0.001] in the patients with diabetes. ⑤ In terms of imaging findings, the BLA was mainly single abscesses [77.56% (242/312)] and mainly in the right lobe [66.34% (207/312)]. ⑥ In terms of microbiological examination, the bacterial positive detection rate of all patients was 71.15% (222/312). The main pathogen was Klebsiella pneumoniae [71.62% (159/222)]. The Klebsiella pneumoniae infection rate in the BLA patients with diabetes was higher than that in the BLA patients without diabetes [79.30% versus 66.67%, χ2=4.161, P=0.041]. ⑦ The septic shock occurred in 20 (6.41%) patients with BLA. After treatment of all patients, 4 cases of BLA with diabetes and 2 cases of BLA without diabetes died. The patients who died all came from septic shock.ConclusionsClinical manifestations of BLA patients with diabetes are atypical and main infection is Klebsiella pneumoniae. When BLA combined with septic shock, individual treatment strategy should be chosen basing on actual situation of patient.