Duration and cessation of antimicrobial treatment

Shortening the duration of antimicrobial therapy is an important strategy for optimizing patient care and reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance. It is best used in the context of an overall approach to infection management that includes a focus on selecting the right initial drug and dosing regimen for empiric therapy, and de-escalation to a more narrowly focused drug regimen (or termination) based on subsequent culture results and clinical data. In addition to reducing resistance, other potential benefits of shorter antimicrobial courses include lowered antimicrobial costs, reduced risk of superinfections (including Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea), reduced risk of antimicrobial-related organ toxicity, and improved drug compliance. There have been relatively few randomized clinical trials that study the optimal treatment durations for such serious infections as pneumonia (community- and healthcare/hospital-acquired), complicated intra-abdominal infection, and catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). Nonetheless, a growing number of studies have explored the possibilities of reducing the duration of antimicrobial therapy for at least certain patients with these infections, under certain circumstances. Professional organizations have compiled these data and used them to develop clinical practice guidelines to aid clinicians in choosing optimal treatment durations for individual patients. Many patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia, ventilator-associated pneumonia, or healthcare-associated pneumonia can be treated for 7-8 days, while 4-7 days and 14-day treatment durations may suffice for many patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections and uncomplicated CRBSI, respectively. This article first provides a general background on the rationale and data supporting shortened courses of antimicrobial therapy, before using 3 case studies to explore the practical implications of current knowledge and treatment guidelines when making decisions about treatment duration for individual patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia, complicated intra-abdominal infection, and CRBSI.