Initial therapy affects duration of diarrhoea in critically ill patients with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI).

BACKGROUND: Critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are at high risk for developing Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI). Risk factors predicting their mortality or standardized treatment recommendations have not been defined for this cohort. Our goal is to determine outcome and mortality associated risk factors for patients at the ICU with CDI by evaluating clinical characteristics and therapy regimens. METHODS: A retrospective single-centre cohort study. One hundred forty-four patients (0.4%) with CDI-associated diarrhoea were included (total 36.477 patients admitted to 12 ICUs from January 2010 to September 2015). Eight patients without specific antibiotic therapy were excluded, so 132 patients were analysed regarding mortality, associated risk factors and therapy regimens using univariate and multivariate regression. RESULTS: Twenty-eight-day mortality was high in patients diagnosed with CDI (27.3%) compared to non-infected ICU patients (9%). Patients with non CDI-related sepsis (n = 40/132; 30.3%) showed further increase in 28-day mortality (45%; p = 0.003). Initially, most patients were treated with a single CDI-specific agent (n = 120/132; 90.9%), either metronidazole (orally, 35.6%; or IV, 37.1%) or vancomycin (18.2%), or with a combination of antibiotics (n = 12/132; 9.1%). Patients treated with metronidazole IV showed significantly longer duration of diarrhoea > 5 days (p = 0.006). In a multivariate regression model, metronidazole IV as initial therapy was an independent risk factor for delayed clinical cure. Immunosuppressants (p = 0.007) during ICU stay lead to increased 28-day mortality. CONCLUSION: Treatment of CDI with solely metronidazole IV leads to a prolonged disease course in critically ill patients.

Stool cultures at the ICU: get rid of it!

BACKGROUND: Stool cultures for Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shigella and/or Yersinia spp. are frequently ordered in critically ill patients with diarrhea. The aim of this study is to analyze the diagnostic yield in a large cohort of critically ill patients. Therefore, we performed a cohort study at the Department of Intensive Care Medicine of a University Hospital (11 ICUs). RESULTS: From all patients who were admitted to the ICU between 2010 and 2015, stool cultures were taken from 2.189/36.477 (6%) patients due to diarrhea. Results of all stool cultures tested for Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shigella and/or Yersinia spp. were analyzed. Overall, 5.747 tests were performed; only six were positive (0.1%). In four of these, Campylobacter spp. were detected; diarrhea started within 48 h after ICU admission. Two patients with Salmonella spp. detection were chronic shedders. On the contrary, testing for Clostridium difficile via GDH- and toxin A/B-EIA yielded positive results in 179/2209 (8.1%) tests and revealed 144/2.189 (6.6%) patients with clinically relevant C. difficile infection. CONCLUSIONS: Stool testing for enteric pathogens other than C. difficile should be avoided in ICU patients and is only reasonable when diarrhea commenced less than 48 h after hospital admission.