[Preventing prolonged antibiotic therapy by active implementation of switch guidelines].

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Antibiotic Stewardship

Background:

• Unnecessary intravenous antibiotic therapy prolongs hospital stays and increases healthcare costs.
• Optimizing antibiotic treatment duration is crucial for patient outcomes and combating antimicrobial resistance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To decrease the duration of unnecessary intravenous antibiotic therapy by implementing an early switch to oral antibiotics.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team intervention in facilitating this early switch.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, open-label trial was conducted over four months at a medical center.
• A guideline for early intravenous to oral antibiotic switch was developed and implemented.
• Interventions included educational, supportive, and guiding measures by a multidisciplinary team, with progress monitoring and feedback.

Main Results:

• On Internal Medicine and Pulmonology wards, unnecessary intravenous antibiotic days decreased from 2.4 to 0.2 per patient (p<0.001).
• On Surgery and Orthopaedics wards, unnecessary intravenous antibiotic days reduced from 7.3 to 1.1 per patient (p<0.001).
• The percentage of patients switched within the guideline timeframe increased significantly in both settings.

Conclusions:

• Simple, multidisciplinary interventions effectively reduced unnecessary intravenous antibiotic therapy days.
• Early switch to oral antibiotics is a safe and efficient strategy for antibiotic stewardship.
• This approach contributes to better patient management and reduced healthcare burden.