Subtherapeutic piperacillin concentrations in neurocritical patients.

PURPOSE: Increased renal elimination is the leading cause for subtherapeutic concentrations of renally cleared antibiotics and it has been hypothesized that brain damaged patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are particularly at risk. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of subtherapeutic piperacillin concentrations in neurocritical patients and to investigate if having a neurocritical diagnosis is a risk factor for this. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Single center retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort study of adult ICU patients receiving continuous infusion piperacillin/tazobactam. Patients were categorized as either having a neurocritical diagnosis or not. An unbound piperacillin concentration > 4× the epidemiologic cut-off value (ECOFF) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was selected as the PKPD target of choice. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify risk factors for subtherapeutic piperacillin concentrations. RESULTS: 356 patients had a measured creatinine clearance (mCrCl) and matched piperacillin concentration, 52 of which had a neurocritical diagnosis. Subtherapeutic piperacillin concentrations were reported significantly more frequent in neurocritical patients. In multivariate analysis, the only risk factor identified for subtherapeutic piperacillin concentration was an increasing mCrCl. CONCLUSION: Subtherapeutic piperacillin concentrations are common in neurocritical patients yet having a neurocritical admission diagnosis was not identified as an independent risk factor.

Frailty as a predictor of mortality in the elderly emergency general surgery patient.

BACKGROUND: The number of surgical procedures performed in elderly and frail patients has greatly increased in the last decades. However, there is little research in the elderly emergency general surgery patient. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of frailty in the emergency general surgery population in Belgium. Secondly, we examined the length of hospital stay, readmission rate and mortality at 30 and 90 days. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study at Ghent University Hospital. All patients older than 65 admitted to a general surgery ward from the emergency department were eligible for inclusion. Primary endpoint was mortality at 30 days. Secondary outcomes were mortality at 90 days, readmissions and length of stay. Cross-sectional observations were performed using the Fisher exact test, Mann-Whitney U-test, or one-way ANOVA. We performed a COX multivariable analysis to identify independent variables associated with mortality at 30 and 90 days as well as the readmission risk. RESULTS: Data were collected from 98 patients in a four-month period. 23.5% of patients were deemed frail. 79% of all patients underwent abdominal surgery. Univariate analyses showed that polypharmacy, multimorbidity, a history of falls, hearing impairment and urinary incontinence were statistically significantly different between the non-frail and the group. Frail patients showed a higher incidence for mortality within 30 days (9% versus 1.3% (p = .053)). There were no differences between the two groups for mortality at 90 days, readmission, length of stay and operation. Frailty was a predictor for mortality at 90 days (p= .025) (hazard ratio (HR) 10.83 (95%CI 1.34-87.4)). Operation (p= .084) (HR 0.16 (95%CI 0.16-1.29)) and the presence of chronic cardiac failure (p= .049) (HR 0.38 (95%CI 0.14-0.99)) were protective for mortality at 90 days. CONCLUSION: Frailty is a significant predictor for mortality for elderly patients undergoing emergency abdominal/general surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II therapeutic study.