Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics declined after implementation of guidelines for treating children hospitalized with uncomplicated CAP.
In July 2008, a Missouri children's hospital began to implement guidelines for treating patients hospitalized with uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia (CAP); an antibiotic stewardship program provided oversight. The guidelines, similar to those recently published by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Sep 28 2011), recommend initial empirical treatment with ampicillin (200–300 mg/kg/day) and then, starting at discharge, oral amoxicillin (80–100 mg/kg/day) for 5 to 7 days. Outcomes for 530 children treated during the year before guideline implementation were retrospectively compared with those for 503 children treated during the year after implementation.
Between the pre- and postimplementation periods, us…