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Emergency department (ED) patients with non-purulent skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) requiring intravenous antibiotics may be managed via outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT)” Yadav et al (2019).

Abstract:

Objective: Emergency department (ED) patients with non-purulent skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) requiring intravenous antibiotics may be managed via outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT). Prospective studies describing the performance of an ED-to-OPAT clinic program are lacking. The primary objective was to determine the OPAT treatment failure rate for ED patients with non-purulent SSTIs.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational cohort study of adults with non-purulent SSTIs managed via an ED-to-OPAT clinic program. OPAT treatment failure was defined as hospitalization after a minimum of 48 h of OPAT for: worsening infection; intravenous line complications; or adverse antibiotic effects. Secondary outcomes were to describe OPAT clinic processes, patient satisfaction, and physician rationale for selecting intravenous antibiotics.

Results: We enrolled a consecutive sample of 153 patients [mean age 60.5 years, 82 male (53.6%)]; 137 patients (89.5%) attended their clinic appointment. OPAT treatment failure was 4.4%. None of the adverse intravenous line (10.9%) and adverse antibiotic (8.0%) events required hospitalization. Patients reported high satisfaction with timeliness of referral (median score 9 out of 10) and overall care received (median score of 10). The top five reasons given by physicians for selecting intravenous therapy were: clinical impression (52.9%); failed oral therapy (41.8%); diabetes (17.6%); severe pain (7.8%); and peripheral vascular disease (7.8%).

Conclusions: This prospective study demonstrates that an ED-to-OPAT clinic program for non-purulent SSTIs is safe, has a low rate of treatment failures and results in high patient satisfaction. The rationale for selecting intravenous antibiotics showed significant variability among ED physicians.

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Reference:

Yadav, K., Suh, K.N., Eagles, D., Thiruganasambandamoorthy, V., Wells, G. and Stiell, I.G. (2019) Evaluation of an emergency department to outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy program for cellulitis. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. February 21st. [epub ahead of print].

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2019.02.023