Once-daily tigecycline for outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy: a single-centre observational study

Tigecycline has potential utility in the treatment of complex polymicrobial infections or those caused by MDR organisms in the ambulatory care setting owing to its breadth of antimicrobial coverage. Whilst licensed for twice-daily IV administration, its long half-life permits once-daily administration, which may facilitate successful outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT).

A retrospective case series of patients receiving once-daily tigecycline under OPAT was analysed at a single-centre NHS acute hospital (January 2016-June 2018). Patient demographics, including comorbidities, antimicrobial indication, concurrent antimicrobial therapies, treatment duration and adverse events related to treatment were recorded using medical records. Treatment outcomes were defined using the BSAC National Outcomes Registry System (NORS).

A total of 25 treatment episodes (24 individual patients) were analysed. The most common indications were bone and joint infections (n = 8) and intra-abdominal infections (n = 7). MDR organisms were common, including ESBL-producing Enterobacterales (n = 13) and glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (n = 4). Median treatment duration was 18 days. Nineteen of 25 (76%) cases had complete cure of treatment, 3 patients experienced treatment-related adverse reactions necessitating cessation of therapy and 3 experienced failure due to disease progression. Eight patients experienced non-limiting adverse effects, such as nausea, vomiting and rash, and one patient had a transient rise in amylase 3 times the upper normal limit (with no evidence of pancreatitis).

Once-daily tigecycline can be successfully used for management of complex infections in the OPAT setting, with predominantly mild adverse effects, which can be managed with antiemetics or slow administration.