The use of long-term antibiotics for suppression of bacterial infections.
Clin Infect Dis
; 2024 Jun 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38832929
ABSTRACT
Suppressive antibiotic therapy is prescribed when a patient has an infection that is presumed to be incurable by a defined course of therapy or source control. The cohort receiving suppressive antibiotic therapy is typically highly comorbid and the infections often involve retained prosthetic material. In part due to a lack of clear guidelines regarding the use of suppressive antibiotics, and in part due to the complex nature of the infections in question, patients are often prescribed suppressive antibiotics for extremely long, if not indefinite, courses. The risks of prolonged antibiotic exposure in this context are not fully characterised, but they include adverse drug effects ranging from mild to severe, the development of antibiotic resistant organisms and perturbations of the gastrointestinal microbiome. In this narrative review we present the available evidence for the use of suppressive antibiotic therapy in four common indications, examine the gaps in the current literature and explore the known and potential risks of this therapy. We also make suggestions for improving the quality of evidence in future studies, particularly by highlighting the need for a standardised term to describe the use of long-courses of antibiotics to suppress hard-to-treat infections.
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1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article