[Antibiotic stewardship programs in the Spanish emergency services: PROA-URG Study]. / Programas de optimización del uso de antimicrobianos en los servicios de urgencias españoles: Estudio PROA-URG.

OBJECTIVE: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) have become a key tool in the adaptation of these drugs to the health system. The information available on the application and indicators used in these programs in emergency departments is scarce. The objective of this study is to know the extent of ASP implementation in the emergency departments, as well as the use of antimicrobials in these units. METHODS: Multicenter retrospective study. An invitation was sent to all participants of the REDFASTER-SEFH emergency pharmacist working group. A questionnaire was used consisting of 21 items, answered by a team made up of a pharmacist, emergency room specialist, infectious disease specialist and microbiologist. RESULTS: Eighteen hospitals completed the survey. Fourteen (77.8%) had an ASP manager. The DDD value per 1000 admissions ranged between 36.5 and 400.5 (median: 100.4 [IQR:57.2-157.3]). Both carbapenem and macrolide group presented wide variability in use. Six (33.3%) hospitals had an annual report on the specific resistance profile for urine and blood cultures. The percentage of multi-drug resistant strains in urine cultures was 12.5% and in blood cultures 12.2%. The percentage of adequacy in the bacteremia treatment was 81.0% (IQR:74.6-85.0%), while in urinary tract infections was 78.0% (IQR:71.5-88.0). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the existence of ASP members in emergency services, as well as the training activity and local guidelines is common. knowledge of the use of antimicrobials and resistances is limited. Future activities must be aimed at improving information about the ASP results in these units.

[Randomized double-blind study of treatment of croup with adrenaline and/or dexamethasone in children]. / Estudio randomizado doble ciego del tratamiento del crup en la infancia con adrenalina y/o dexametasona.

We present the results of a study designed to verify the efficacy of nebulized L-Adrenaline and/or dexamethasone given intramuscularly (IM) in the treatment of croup during childhood. Sixty-six children, hospitalized for croup during the period between october 1989 and september 1990, entered the study. They received the ordinary treatment with oxygen-therapy and fluid-therapy and were randomly assigned, in a double-blind fashion, into one of four treatment groups: Group 1: Nebulized L-Adrenaline and placebo (IM). Group 2: Nebulized saline and placebo (IM). Group 3: Nebulized saline and dexamethasone (IM). Group 4: Nebulized L-Adrenaline and dexamethasone (IM). The clinical evaluation was based on a scoring system assessing the inspiratory stridor, croupy cough, retractions and cyanosis. An analysis of variance was performed on the evolution of the score for two factors (Adrenaline and dexamethasone) to verify that there was no interaction between them. Subsequently, a one-factor analysis of variance was performed on the four treatment groups. We conclude that nebulized Adrenalin is more beneficial than saline in the clinical evolution of croup (p < 0.05). However, we did not find a statistically significant improvement in the group treated with dexamethasone when compared with the group treated with the placebo IM injection.