Antibiotic Duration in Catheter-Related Gram-Negative Bacteremia: Less May Be More

Appropriate antibiotics for ≤7 days may suffice in the treatment of catheter-related bloodstream infection due to gram-negative bacilli.

Current guidelines recommend 7 to 14 days of antibiotics for gram-negative bacilli (GNB) catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs), but little evidence points toward a specific treatment duration. To compare clinical and microbiological failure and all-cause 30-day mortality among patients receiving ≤7 days (short course, SC) or >7 days (long course, LC) of appropriate antibiotic therapy after catheter removal, investigators performed a retrospective single-center analysis of 54 GNB CRBSIs.

Overall therapeutic (combined clinical and microbiological) failure was 27.8%. The LC group was significantly more likely to have fever at presentation and receive appropriate antibiotic therapy. The most common pathogens were Klebsiella pneumoniae…

Reviewing Author

George Sakoulas, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParatek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.; AbbVie; Shionogi

Speaker’s BureauAllergan/AbbVie; Paratek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsAntimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Open Forum Infectious Diseases