Impact of an empiric antimicrobial therapy manual on antimicrobial usage and multidrug resistant organism trends in a large Italian teaching hospital

A Multidisciplinary-Based and Bundle Intervention for Controlling Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms in Neurosurgery

Purpose

Carbapenem-resistant organisms (CROs) have been listed as the primary risk resistance bacteria due to their high detection rates and extensive drug resistance. Research on the effectiveness of CRO intervention programs in secondary hospitals is limited. This study aims to observe the effect of multidisciplinary-based and bundle interventions under PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle management on the control of CROs in neurosurgery.

Patients and Methods

We conducted a before-after study from January 2021 to December 2023, which was divided into pre-intervention phase and intervention phase. The surveillance analysis and event analysis were used to identify the key links and targeted pathogens of the intervention. PDCA cycle management tool was used to strengthen the bundle management of multidisciplinary collaboration. After one year of PDCA intervention, the process surveillance and outcome surveillance indicators of prevention and control measures from January 2023 to December 2023 were collected and compared with the pre-intervention phase (January 2021-December 2022).

Results

A total of 1809 patients were involved in our study. The 11 prevention and control measures were evaluated. After the implementation of PDCA cycle management, the measures including timely completion of multi-drug resistance prevention and control registration, and issuance of contact precaution orders, were significantly improved (p < 0.05). The total detection rate of CRO strains was 52.25%, which was significantly lower than 66.45% before intervention (RR = 0.786; 95% CI, 0.678-0.912; p < 0.05), and the incidence density of patients infected or colonized with CROs showed significant decrease from 18.75 per 1000 patient-days to 15.09 per 1000 patient-days (IRR = 0.563; 95% CI, 0.449-0.707; p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The multidisciplinary and bundle interventions based on PDCA cycle management tool had a good effect on the prevention and control of CROs in neurosurgery.

Determinants of Inadequate Empiric Antimicrobial Therapy in ICU Sepsis Patients in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia: A Comparison of Artificial Neural Network and Regression Analysis

In the management of sepsis, providing adequate empiric antimicrobial therapy is one of the most important pillars of sepsis management. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the adequacy of empiric antimicrobial therapy (EAMT) in sepsis patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) and to identify the determinants of inadequate EAMT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of empiric antimicrobial therapy in patients admitted to the ICU with sepsis or septic shock, and the determinants of inadequate EAMT. The data of patients admitted to the ICU units due to sepsis or septic shock in two tertiary healthcare facilities in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah were retrospectively reviewed. The current study used logistic regression analysis and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis to identify determinants of inadequate empiric antimicrobial therapy, and evaluated the performance of these two approaches in predicting the inadequacy of EAMT. The findings of this study showed that fifty-three per cent of patients received inadequate EAMT. Determinants for inadequate EAMT were APACHE II score, multidrug-resistance organism (MDRO) infections, surgical history (lower limb amputation), and comorbidity (coronary artery disease). ANN performed as well as or better than logistic regression in predicating inadequate EAMT, as the receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (ROC-AUC) of the ANN model was higher when compared with the logistic regression model (LRM): 0.895 vs. 0.854. In addition, the ANN model performed better than LRM in predicting inadequate EAMT in terms of classification accuracy. In addition, ANN analysis revealed that the most important determinants of EAMT adequacy were the APACHE II score and MDRO. In conclusion, more than half of the patients received inadequate EAMT. Determinants of inadequate EAMT were APACHE II score, MDRO infections, comorbidity, and surgical history. This provides valuable inputs to improve the prescription of empiric antimicrobials in Saudi Arabia going forward. In addition, our study demonstrated the potential utility of applying artificial neural network analysis in the prediction of outcomes in healthcare research.

An Observational Study of MDR Hospital-Acquired Infections and Antibiotic Use during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs

The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has required major adjustments to healthcare systems, especially to infection control and antimicrobial stewardship. The objective of this study was to describe the incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and antibiotic consumption during the three waves of COVID-19 and to compare it to the period before the outbreak at Molinette Hospital, located in the City of Health and Sciences, a 1200-bed teaching hospital with surgical, medical, and intensive care units. We demonstrated an increase in MDR infections: particularly in K. pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-Kp), A. baumannii, and MRSA. Fluoroquinolone use showed a significant increasing trend in the pre-COVID period but saw a significant reduction in the COVID period. The use of fourth- and fifth-generation cephalosporins and piperacillin-tazobactam increased at the beginning of the COVID period. Our findings support the need for restoring stewardship and infection control practices, specifically source control, hygiene, and management of invasive devices. In addition, our data reveal the need for improved microbiological diagnosis to guide appropriate treatment and prompt infection control during pandemics. Despite the infection control practices in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, invasive procedures in critically ill patients and poor source control still increase the risk of HAIs caused by MDR organisms.