Benefit of In-Person Antibiotic Consultation in the ICU

Two reports showed substantial savings and improvements in antibiotic management associated with regular infectious diseases consultations or daily prompting on antibiotic treatment issues.

In intensive care units (ICUs), many patients receive antibiotics, sometimes despite low likelihood of infection. Several previous reports have suggested that unnecessary antibiotic use may lead to superinfection, selection of resistant pathogens, and — eventually — worse outcomes. But what is the effect of daily in-person counseling or prompting on the optimization of antibiotic therapy in critically ill medical patients? Two recent studies conducted in U.S. hospitals addressed this issue.

Rimawi and coworkers prospectively compared antibiotic use during a 3-month pre-intervention period (July–September 2011) with that during a 3-month intervention period (July–September 2012) in which an infectious diseases (ID) specialist made daily visit…

Reviewing Author

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Benefit of In-Person Antibiotic Consultation in the ICU

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Reviewing Author