Main applications of point-of-care ultrasound in palliative care.

Combined with a physical examination, clinical ultrasound offers a valuable complement that can help guide clinical decision-making. In various medical and surgical specialties, it is increasingly used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Due to recent technological advances, smaller and more affordable ultrasound machines are now being developed for use in home hospice care. The purpose of this paper is to describe how clinical ultrasound may be applied in Palliative Care, where it can be a valuable tool to assist the clinician in making better clinical decisions and to assist in accurately guiding palliative procedures. Furthermore, it can be used to identify unnecessary hospitalizations and prevent them from occurring. Training programs with specific objectives are necessary to implement clinical ultrasound in Palliative Care, as well as defining learning curves and promoting alliances with scientific societies that recognize the teaching, care and research trajectory for accreditation of competencies.

Successful Integration of Clinical Pharmacists in an OPAT Program: A Real-Life Multidisciplinary Circuit.

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) programs encompass a range of healthcare processes aiming to treat infections at home, with the preferential use of the intravenous route. Although several barriers arise during the implementation of OPAT circuits, recent cumulative data have supported the effectiveness of these programs, demonstrating their application in a safe and cost-effective manner. Given that OPAT is evolving towards treating patients with higher complexity, a multidisciplinary team including physicians, pharmacists, and nursing staff should lead the program. The professionals involved require previous experience in infectious diseases treatment as well as in outpatient healthcare and self-administration. As we describe here, clinical pharmacists exert a key role in OPAT multidisciplinary teams. Their intervention is essential to optimize antimicrobial prescriptions through their participation in stewardship programs as well as to closely follow patients from a pharmacotherapeutic perspective. Moreover, pharmacists provide specialized counseling on antimicrobial treatment technical compounding. In fact, OPAT elaboration in sterile environments and pharmacy department clean rooms increases OPAT stability and safety, enhancing the quality of the program. In summary, building multidisciplinary teams with the involvement of clinical pharmacists improves the management of home-treated infections, promoting a safe self-administration and increasing OPAT patients' quality of life.

Executive summary of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy: Guidelines of the Spanish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Spanish Domiciliary Hospitalisation Society.

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) programmes make it possible to start or complete intravenous antimicrobial therapy for practically any type of infection at home, provided that patient selection is appropriate for the type of OPAT programme available. Although the clinical management of infections in the home setting is comparable in many respects to that offered in conventional hospitalization (selection of antibiotics, duration of treatment, etc.), there are many aspects that are specific to this care modality. It is essential to be aware of them so that OPAT continues to be as safe and effective as inpatient care. The objective of this clinical guideline is therefore to provide evidence- and expert-based recommendations with a view to standardizing clinical practice in this care modality and contribute to a progressive increase in the number of patients who can be cared for and receive intravenous therapy in their own homes.

Effectiveness and safety of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

AIM: We analysed the effectiveness and safety of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in patients admitted to home hospitalisation units (HHU). METHODS: Retrospective multicentre study of patients with AECOPD included in the Spanish OPAT Registry during 2 years period. RESULTS: Twenty-seven hospitals included 562 episodes in 361 patients diagnosed COPD GOLD III-IV. The most frequently isolated pathogen was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (38%) and the most frequently used antibiotic was piperacillin-tazobactam (20%). The effectiveness of OPAT defined as the rate of improvement or recovery was 93.4%. The safety of OPAT defined as no adverse drug events and no infectious or catheter-related complications was 89.3%. Moreover, the risk of hospital readmission was not greater in patients with AECOPD aged >80 years. No differences in the effectiveness or safety were observed when OPAT was administered by patients and/or caregivers. CONCLUSION: Patients with AECOPD who require parenteral antimicrobial therapy can be managed effectively and safely in HHU, avoiding hospital stays, readmissions and complications.

Intravenous antimicrobial therapy in the hospital-at-home setting: data from the Spanish Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Registry.

AIM: To evaluate outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) in the hospital-at-home (HaH) model, using data from a Spanish registry. PATIENTS & METHODS: We describe episodes/characteristics of patients receiving OPAT. RESULTS: Four thousand and five patients were included (mean age 66.2 years), generating 4416 HaH episodes, 4474 infections and 5088 antibiotic treatments. Most patients were from the hospital admission ward and emergency department. Respiratory, urinary and intra-abdominal infections predominated (72%). Forty-six different antimicrobials were used, including combinations of ≥ 2 drugs (20.7%). Most HaH episodes had a successful outcome (91%). CONCLUSION: Our findings are similar to those obtained previously although our study case profiles differ, suggesting that disease processes of greater severity and complexity can be treated using this healthcare model, without compromising patient safety.