Assessment of Prophylactic Antibiotic Coverage in Culture-positive Traumatic Open Fractures.

Guidelines provide varying recommendations for the prophylactic antimicrobial treatment of open fractures. This single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine how well an institutional prophylactic antibiotic protocol covered pathogens associated with open fractures. The authors included adult trauma patients with one or more open fractures and a positive culture from the site of the open fracture, and compared outcomes between patients who were covered by prophylactic antibiotics with patients not covered by prophylactic antibiotics. Of 957 patients evaluated, 75 were included, with 40 patients (53%) covered by the prophylactic antibiotics received. Multidrug-resistant pathogens were isolated in 23 (58%) patients covered versus 26 (74%) patients not covered (p = 0.128). The median time to positive culture was less in patients not covered by initial antibiotics compared with those who were covered (30.2 vs. 102.1 days; p = 0.003). Over half of the patients developed cultures with pathogens that were covered by their initial antibiotic prophylaxis. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 33(2):084-087, 2024).

Impact of Education and Data Feedback on Antibiotic Prescribing for Urinary Tract Infections in the Emergency Department: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are often misdiagnosed or treated with exceedingly broad-spectrum antibiotics, leading to negative downstream effects. We aimed to implement antimicrobial stewardship (AS) strategies targeting UTI prescribing in the emergency department (ED). METHODS: We conducted a quasi-experimental prospective AS intervention outlining appropriate UTI diagnosis and management across 3 EDs, within an academic and 2 community hospitals, in North Carolina, United States. The study was divided into 3 phases: a baseline period and 2 intervention phases. Phase 1 included introduction of an ED-specific urine antibiogram and UTI guideline, education, and department-specific feedback on UTI diagnosis and antibiotic prescribing. Phase 2 included re-education and provider-specific feedback. Eligible patients included adults with an antibiotic prescription for UTI diagnosed in the ED from 13 November 2018 to 1 March 2021. Admitted patients were excluded. The primary outcome was guideline-concordant antibiotic use, assessed using an interrupted time-series regression analysis with 2-week intervals. RESULTS: Overall, 8742 distinct patients with 10 426 patient encounters were included. Ninety-two percent of all encounters (n = 9583) were diagnosed with cystitis and 8.1% with pyelonephritis (n = 843). There was an initial 15% increase in guideline-concordant antibiotic prescribing in phase 1 compared with the preintervention period (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.29). A significant increase in guideline-concordant prescriptions was seen with every 2-week interval during phase 2 (IRR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04). CONCLUSIONS: This multifaceted AS intervention involving a guideline, education, and provider-specific feedback increased guideline-concordant antibiotic choices for treat-and-release patients in the ED.