One treatment failure would be averted for every 14 patients treated with antibiotics.
Prior to 2016, trials and meta-analyses suggested that antibiotics were not beneficial as adjunctive therapy in patients treated with incision and drainage for skin abscesses. In 2016 and 2017, large randomized trials found the opposite (NEJM JW Emerg Med Apr 2016 and N Engl J Med 2016; 374:823; NEJM JW Infect Dis Sep 2017 and N Engl J Med 2017; 376:2545). Now, researchers performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to integrate these disparate findings.
Four placebo-controlled trials of antibiotic therapy effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), involving 2406 patients, were included; the two trials mentioned above were among them. In pooled analyses, treatment failure (the primary outcome) occurred in 7.7% …
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals