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Updated: Dec 14, 2025
Multiplex Therapeutic Drug Monitoring by Isotope-dilution HPLC-MS/MS of Antibiotics in Critical Illnesses
Published on: August 30, 2018
[Use (and abuse) of antibiotics in perinatal medicine]
Marcelo Cardetti1, Susana Rodríguez2, Augusto Sola3
1Consejería RED SIBEN, Servicio de Neonatología Clínica y Maternidad, Centro de Endocrinología y Reproducción Humana (CERHU), San Luis, Argentina.
Insights
Antibiotic abuse is high in perinatal medicine, leading to adverse effects and increased costs. Optimizing antibiotic use is crucial for better health outcomes and significant healthcare savings.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal Medicine
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- Rational antibiotic use (ATB) ensures appropriate treatment, dosage, duration, and cost-effectiveness.
- Antibiotic abuse is prevalent in the perinatal period, causing negative short- and long-term health effects and escalating medical care costs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and update evidence on antibiotic use and abuse in perinatal medicine.
- To identify adverse effects and propose preventive measures to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce costs.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature review and analysis of studies on antibiotic use in perinatal medicine up to February 2020.
Main Results:
- Antibiotic abuse in perinatal settings ranges from 50% to 70%, with higher rates in neonatal intensive care units.
- Adverse effects include mortality, increased antimicrobial resistance, and microbiome dysbiosis, leading to chronic conditions like allergies, autoimmune disorders, asthma, and potentially cancer.
- Reducing antibiotic abuse can yield substantial healthcare savings, estimated at US$230,000 annually per four neonatal intensive care units with 1000 admissions.
Conclusions:
- There is an urgent need to optimize antibiotic prescribing practices in perinatal medicine.
- Implementing strategies to curb antibiotic abuse can significantly improve patient health and reduce healthcare expenditures.
Introduction:
The rational use of antibiotics (ATB) implies that patients receive those adequate for their clinical needs, in correct doses according to their individual conditions, during an adequate period of time, and at the lowest cost for them and their community. The highest rate of ATB abuse occurs during the perinatal period, despite the fact that there is evidence of multiple short- and long-term negative effects. Furthermore, this abuse is associated with increased costs of medical care.
Objective:
To update and report the evidence on the use, abuse, and adverse effects of ATB in perinatal medicine, and possible measures to prevent them, and thus improve health care outcomes and costs.
Methods:
A review and analysis was performed from the literature related to the use of ATB in perinatal medicine up to February 2020.
Results:
ATB abuse in perinatal medicine ranges from 50% to 70%, with even higher rates in some neonatal centres. Adverse effects include death, increased microbial resistance, along with microbiome abnormalities and dysbiosis that lead to serious life-long complications such as infections, allergies, autoimmune disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, arthritis, asthma, obesity, and perhaps cancer. Preventing and reducing the abuse of ATB would lead to better health and to significant savings in the health sector. In only 4neonatal intensive care units, with 1000 admissions per year, savings are estimated at US$230,000 per year.
Conclusion:
The need to optimise the use of ATB in perinatal medicine has never been more urgent.
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