scholarly journals Antibiotic De-escalation Experience in the Setting of Emergency Department: A Retrospective, Observational Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 3285
Author(s):  
Silvia Corcione ◽  
Simone Mornese Pinna ◽  
Tommaso Lupia ◽  
Alice Trentalange ◽  
Erika Germanò ◽  
...  

Background: Antimicrobial de-escalation (ADE) is a part of antimicrobial stewardship strategies aiming to minimize unnecessary or inappropriate antibiotic exposure to decrease the rate of antimicrobial resistance. Information regarding the effectiveness and safety of ADE in the setting of emergency medicine wards (EMW) is lacking. Methods: Adult patients admitted to EMW and receiving empiric antimicrobial treatment were retrospectively studied. The primary outcome was the rate and timing of ADE. Secondary outcomes included factors associated with early ADE, length of stay, and in-hospital mortality. Results: A total of 336 patients were studied. An initial regimen combining two agents was prescribed in 54.8%. Ureidopenicillins and carbapenems were the most frequently empiric treatment prescribed (25.1% and 13.6%). The rate of the appropriateness of prescribing was 58.3%. De-escalation was performed in 111 (33%) patients. Patients received a successful de-escalation on day 2 (21%), 3 (23%), and 5 (56%). The overall in-hospital mortality was 21%, and it was significantly lower among the de-escalation group than the continuation group (16% vs 25% p = 0.003). In multivariate analysis, de-escalation strategies as well as appropriate empiric and targeted therapy were associated with reduced mortality. Conclusions: ADE appears safe and effective in the setting of EMWs despite that further research is warranted to confirm these findings.

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirui Zhang ◽  
Yupei Li ◽  
Guina Liu ◽  
Baihai Su

Abstract Background Anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients has been associated with survival benefit; however, the optimal anticoagulant strategy has not yet been defined. The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of intermediate-to-therapeutic versus prophylactic anticoagulation for thromboprophylaxis on the primary outcome of in-hospital mortality and other patient-centered secondary outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched from inception to August 10th 2021. Cohort studies and randomized clinical trials that assessed the efficacy and safety of intermediate-to-therapeutic versus prophylactic anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients were included. Baseline characteristics and relevant data of each study were extracted in a pre-designed standardized data-collection form. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcomes were incidence of thrombotic events and incidence of any bleeding and major bleeding. Pooled analysis with random effects models yielded relative risk with 95 % CIs. Results This meta-analysis included 42 studies with 28,055 in-hospital COVID-19 patients totally. Our pooled analysis demonstrated that intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation was not associated with lower in-hospital mortality (RR=1.12, 95 %CI 0.99-1.25, p=0.06, I2=77 %) and lower incidence of thrombotic events (RR=1.30, 95 %CI 0.79-2.15, p=0.30, I2=88 %), but increased the risk of any bleeding events (RR=2.16, 95 %CI 1.79-2.60, p<0.01, I2=31 %) and major bleeding events significantly (RR=2.10, 95 %CI 1.77-2.51, p<0.01, I2=11 %) versus prophylactic anticoagulation. Moreover, intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation decreased the incidence of thrombotic events (RR=0.71, 95 %CI 0.56-0.89, p=0.003, I2=0 %) among critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU), with increased bleeding risk (RR=1.66, 95 %CI 1.37-2.00, p<0.01, I2=0 %) and unchanged in-hospital mortality (RR=0.94, 95 %CI 0.79-1.10, p=0.42, I2=30 %) in such patients. The Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate. Conclusions We recommend the use of prophylactic anticoagulation against intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation among unselected hospitalized COVID-19 patients considering insignificant survival benefits but higher risk of bleeding in the escalated thromboprophylaxis strategy. For critically ill COVID-19 patients, the benefits of intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation in reducing thrombotic events should be weighed cautiously because of its association with higher risk of bleeding. Trial registration The protocol was registered at PROSPERO on August 17th 2021 (CRD42021273780). Graphical abstract


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 1053-1057
Author(s):  
Brian Murray ◽  
Marina Gore ◽  
Nicole R. Leonard ◽  
Nadia M. Pearson ◽  
Jeremiah J. Johnson ◽  
...  

We compared patient-reported discomfort associated with oropharynx examination using traditional (unflavored) versus flavored tongue depressors among pediatric patients presenting to the emergency department in a single-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized trial using a convenience sample ages 3 to 12 years. Our primary outcome was patient discomfort. Secondary outcomes included provider perceptions of patient discomfort, provider-reported examination ease, and caregiver perceptions of patient discomfort. Of 96 recruited patients, 92 (95.8%) completed the study. Forty-six (50%) were randomized to a traditional tongue depressor. Mean patient-reported oropharynx examination discomfort scores were 2.3 cm (95% confidence interval = 1.4-3.2 cm) with traditional tongue depressors versus 1.9 cm (95% confidence interval = 1.0-2.8 cm) with flavored tongue depressors ( P = .72). There were similarly no significant differences between the 2 arms with regard to any of the secondary outcomes. We conclude that the use of flavored tongue depressors does not appear to significantly alleviate discomfort associated with examination of the oropharynx in pediatric patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (44) ◽  
pp. 4234-4242
Author(s):  
Sebastian E Beyer ◽  
Andrew B Dicks ◽  
Scott A Shainker ◽  
Loryn Feinberg ◽  
Marc L Schermerhorn ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims Pregnancy is a known risk factor for arterial dissection, which can result in significant morbidity and mortality in the peripartum period. However, little is known about the risk factors, timing, distribution, and outcomes of arterial dissections associated with pregnancy. Methods and results We included all women ≥12 years of age with hospitalizations associated with pregnancy and/or delivery in the Nationwide Readmissions Database between 2010 and 2015. The primary outcome was any dissection during pregnancy, delivery, or the postpartum period (42-days post-delivery). Secondary outcomes included timing of dissection, location of dissection, and in-hospital mortality. Among 18 151  897 pregnant patients, 993 (0.005%) patients were diagnosed with a pregnancy-related dissection. Risk factors included older age (32.8 vs. 28.0 years), multiple gestation (3.6% vs. 1.9%), gestational diabetes (14.3% vs. 0.2%), gestational hypertension (6.0% vs. 0.6%), and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (2.7% vs. 0.4%), in addition to traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Of the 993 patients with dissection, 150 (15.1%) dissections occurred in the antepartum period, 232 (23.4%) were diagnosed during the admission for delivery, and 611 (61.5%) were diagnosed in the postpartum period. The most common locations for dissections were coronary (38.2%), vertebral (22.9%), aortic (19.8%), and carotid (19.5%). In-hospital mortality was 3.7% among pregnant patients with a dissection vs. &lt;0.001% in patients without a dissection. Deaths were isolated to patients with an aortic (8.6%), coronary (4.2%), or supra-aortic (&lt;2.5%) dissection. Conclusion Arterial dissections occurred in 5.5/100 000 hospitalized pregnant or postpartum women, most frequently in the postpartum period, and were associated with high mortality risk. The coronary arteries were most commonly involved. Pregnancy-related dissections were associated with traditional risk factors, as well as pregnancy-specific conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youfeng Zhu ◽  
Haiyan Yin ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Xiaoling Ye ◽  
Jianrui Wei

Abstract Background The use of dobutamine in patients with sepsis is questionable currently. As the benefit of dobutamine in septic patients is unclear, we aimed to evaluate whether the use of dobutamine was associated with decreased hospital mortality in sepsis patients. Methods Based on the analysis of MIMIC III public database, we performed a big-data, real world study. According to the use of dobutamine or not, patients were categorized as the dobutamine group or non dobutamine group.We used propensity score matched (PSM) analysis to adjust for confoundings. The primary outcome was hospital mortality. Results In the present study, after screening 38,605 patients, 2826 patients with sepsis were included. 121 patients were in dobutamine group and 2165 patients were in non dobutamine group. Compared with patients in non-dobutamine group, patients in dobutamine group had a lower MAP, higher HR, higher RR, higher severity of illness scores. 72 of 121 patients (59.5%) in the dobutamine group and 754 of 2165 patients (34.8%) in the non-dobutamine group died in the hospital, which resulted in a significant between-group difference (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.01–2.40; P = 0.000). For the secondary outcomes, patients in dobutamine group received more MV use, more renal replacement therapy use, had longer ICU stay durations and more cardiac arrhythmias than those in non-dobutamine group. After adjusting for confoundings between groups by PSM analysis, hospital mortality was consistently higher in dobutamine group than that in non-dobutamine group (60.2% vs. 49.4%, OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.01–2.37; P = 0.044). Conclusions Among patients with sepsis, our study showed that the use of dobutamine was not associated with decreased hospital mortality. Further large scale, randomized controlled studies are warrented to confirm our findings.


CJEM ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tawfik Al-Abdullah ◽  
Amy C. Plint ◽  
Alyson Shaw ◽  
Rhonda Correll ◽  
Isabelle Gaboury ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective: We compared the appropriateness of visits to a pediatric emergency department (ED) by provincial telephone health line–referral, by self- or parent-referral, and by physician-referral. Methods: A cohort of patients younger than 18 years of age who presented to a pediatric ED during any of four 1-week study periods were prospectively enrolled. The cohort consisted of all patients who were referred to the ED by a provincial telephone health line or by a physician. For each patient referred by the health line, the next patient who was self- or parent-referred was also enrolled. The primary outcome was visit appropriateness, which was determined using previously published explicit criteria. Secondary outcomes included the treating physician's view of appropriateness, disposition (hospital admission or discharge), treatment, investigations and the length of stay in the ED. Results: Of the 578 patients who were enrolled, 129 were referred from the health line, 102 were either self- or parent-referred, and 347 were physician-referred. Groups were similar at baseline for sex, but health line–referred patients were significantly younger. Using explicitly set criteria, there was no significant difference in visit appropriateness among the health line–referrals (66%), the self- or parent-referrals (77%) and the physician-referrals (73%) (p = 0.11). However, when the examining physician determined visit appropriateness, physician-referred patients (80%) were deemed appropriate significantly more often than those referred by the health line (56%, p &lt; 0.001) or by self- or parent-referral (63%, p = 0.002). There was no significant difference between these latter 2 referral routes (p = 0.50). In keeping with their greater acuity, physician-referred patients were significantly more likely to have investigations, receive some treatment, be admitted to hospital and have longer lengths of stay. Patients who were self- or parent-referred, and those who were health line–referred were similar to each other in these outcomes. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in visit appropriateness based on the route of referral when we used set criteria; however, there was when we used treating physician opinion, triage category and resource use.


CJEM ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (05) ◽  
pp. 405-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quynh Doan ◽  
Emerson D. Genuis ◽  
Alvis Yu

ABSTRACTIntroduction:Emergency department (ED) crowding is a significant problem in Canada and has been associated with decreased quality of care in general and pediatric emergency departments (PEDs). Although boarding of admitted patients in the ED is the main contributor to adult ED overcrowding, factors involved in PED crowding may be different. The objective of this study was to report the trend in PED services use and to document the degree of overcrowding experienced in a Canadian PED.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted using administrative data from a tertiary care PED from 2002 to 2011. The primary outcome was PED use (total volume of visits and case severity per triage levels using the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale [CTAS] score and admissions). Secondary outcomes included measures of PED overcrowding, such as rates of patients leaving without being seen (LWBS) and length of stay (LOS).Results:Total volumes increased by 30% over the 10-year study period, whereas hospitalizations remained stable at approximately 10%. Trends in CTAS levels did not indicate meaningful changes in the severity of cases treated at our PED. LWBS proportions among CTAS 3, CTAS 4, and CTAS 5 groups and LOS for all CTAS groups progressively and statistically increased from year to year.Conclusions:Over the course of the study period, there was a substantial increase in PED visits,which likely contributed to the worsening markers of PED flow outcomes. Further study into the effects of PED crowding on patient outcomes is warranted.


2021 ◽  
Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolle W. Davis ◽  
Tiffany O. Sheehan ◽  
Yi Guo ◽  
Debra Lynch Kelly ◽  
Ann L. Horgas ◽  
...  

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Mathew ◽  
Pietro Di Santo ◽  
Jeffrey Marbach ◽  
Jordan Hutson ◽  
Trevor Simard ◽  
...  

Introduction: Cardiogenic shock (CS) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although inotropic support is a mainstay of medical therapy for CS, little evidence exists to guide the selection of inotropic agents in clinical practice. Methods: In this double blind randomized controlled trial, we assigned patients with SCAI class B to E shock to either milrinone or dobutamine for inotropic support. Therapy was titrated based on clinical, biochemical and hemodynamic response as evaluated by the treating physician. The primary outcome was a combined endpoint of in hospital mortality, non-fatal MI, stroke, new initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT), need for MCS or cardiac transplant, or cardiac arrest with successful resuscitation. Secondary outcomes included individual components of the primary outcome. Results: Among 192 participants, there was no significant difference in the primary outcome, occurring in 49% (47 of 96) of patients in the milrinone arm and 54% (52 of 96) patients in the dobutamine group (RR 0.90, 95% CI of 0.69-1.19, p-value = 0.47). There were also no differences in important secondary outcomes between milrinone and dobutamine, including in-hospital mortality 37% (35 of 96) vs 43% (41 of 96) (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.60-1.21, p-value = 0.38) or need for RRT 22% (21 of 96) vs 17% (16 of 96) (RR 1.31, 95% CI 0.73-2.36, p-value = 0.36). Conclusions: In this randomized clinical trial of milrinone and dobutamine in CS, there was no difference in the primary composite outcome or in important secondary outcomes. The selection of inotropic agent could reasonably be based on physician comfort, cost and individual response to therapy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Fuchs Bahlis ◽  
Luciano Passamani Diogo ◽  
Ricardo de Souza Kuchenbecker ◽  
Sandra Costa Fuchs

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the patient profile, mortality rates, the accuracy of prognostic scores, and mortality-associated factors in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a general hospital in Brazil. Methods: This was a cohort study involving patients with a clinical and laboratory diagnosis of CAP and requiring admission to a public hospital in the interior of Brazil between March 2014 and April 2015. We performed multivariate analysis using a Poisson regression model with robust variance to identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality. Results: We included 304 patients. Approximately 70% of the patients were classified as severely ill on the basis of the severity criteria used. The mortality rate was 15.5%, and the ICU admission rate was 29.3%. After multivariate analysis, the factors associated with in-hospital mortality were need for mechanical ventilation (OR: 3.60; 95% CI: 1.85-7.47); a Charlson Comorbidity Index score > 3 (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.18-1.43); and a mental Confusion, Urea, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure, and age > 65 years (CURB-65) score > 2 (OR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.09-1.98). The mean time from patient arrival at the emergency room to initiation of antibiotic therapy was 10 h. Conclusions: The in-hospital mortality rate of 15.5% and the need for ICU admission in almost one third of the patients reflect the major impact of CAP on patients and the health care system. Individuals with a high burden of comorbidities, a high CURB-65 score, and a need for mechanical ventilation had a worse prognosis. Measures to reduce the time to initiation of antibiotic therapy may result in better outcomes in this group of patients.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. e022185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Abou Dagher ◽  
Karim Hajjar ◽  
Christopher Khoury ◽  
Nadine El Hajj ◽  
Mohammad Kanso ◽  
...  

ObjectivesPatients with congestive heart failure (CHF) may be at a higher risk of mortality from sepsis than patients without CHF due to insufficient cardiovascular reserves during systemic infections. The aim of this study is to compare sepsis-related mortality between CHF and no CHF in patients presenting to a tertiary medical centre.DesignA single-centre, retrospective, cohort study.SettingConducted in an academic emergency department (ED) between January 2010 and January 2015. Patients’ charts were queried via the hospital’s electronic system. Patients with a diagnosis of sepsis were included. Descriptive analysis was performed on the demographics, characteristics and outcomes of patients with sepsis of the study population.ParticipantsA total of 174 patients, of which 87 (50%) were patients with CHF.Primary and secondary outcomesThe primary outcome of the study was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital lengths of stay, and differences in interventions between the two groups.ResultsPatients with CHF had a higher in-hospital mortality (57.5% vs 34.5%). Patients with sepsis and CHF had higher odds of death compared with the control population (OR 2.45; 95% CI 1.22 to 4.88). Secondary analyses showed that patients with CHF had lower instances of bacteraemia on presentation to the ED (31.8% vs 46.4%). They had less intravenous fluid requirements in first 24 hours (2.75±2.28 L vs 3.67±2.82 L, p =0.038), had a higher rate of intubation in the ED (24.2% vs 10.6%, p=0.025) and required more dobutamine in the first 24 hours (16.1% vs 1.1%, p<0.001). ED length of stay was found to be lower in patients with CHF (15.12±24.45 hours vs 18.17±26.13 hours, p=0.418) and they were more likely to be admitted to the ICU (59.8% vs 48.8%, p=0.149).ConclusionPatients with sepsis and CHF experienced an increased hospital mortality compared with patients without CHF.


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