Improving Antibiotic Use for Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Through Diagnostic Stewardship: A Proof-of-Concept Mixed Methods Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Overtreatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in the intensive care unit is driven by positive respiratory tract cultures in the absence of a clinical picture of pneumonia. We evaluated the potential for diagnostic stewardship at the respiratory culture reporting step.

Methods

In this mixed methods study, we conducted a baseline evaluation of lower respiratory tract (LRT) culture appropriateness and antibiotic prescribing, followed by a nonrandomized intervention in 2 adult intensive care units. The intervention was a comment in the report to indicate potential colonization instead of organism identification when LRT cultures were inappropriate-that is, not meeting criteria for pneumonia as adjudicated by a physician using a standard algorithm.

Results

SUBMITTER: Tripathi RK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11420684 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature