Door-to-Antibiotic Time and Sepsis Mortality

Delays in the initiation of antibiotic therapy for septic patients in the emergency department are associated with long-term mortality.

Even though international sepsis treatment guidelines advocate the initiation of antibiotic therapy within 1 hour for septic patients, the literature underlying this statement is controversial.

To examine this issue further, researchers have now conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 10,881 adult septic patients for whom data on antibiotic treatment initiation in the emergency department (ED) and outcomes up to 1 year were available. Of these patients, 8% died within 30 days, and 19% died within 1 year. The median time from arrival in the ED to initiation of antibiotic treatment (door-to-antibiotic time) was 166 minutes.

Patients who received antibiotics ≤3 hours after ED arrival were older, had more comorbidities, and were more sev…

Reviewing Author

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Door-to-Antibiotic Time and Sepsis Mortality

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Reviewing Author