Reduction in antibiotic use through procalcitonin testing in patients in the medical admission unit or intensive care unit with suspicion of infection

Development of quality indicators for antimicrobial stewardship in Belgian hospitals: a RAND - modified Delphi procedure

INTRODUCTION

Inappropriate antibiotic use is a major cause of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, optimizing antibiotic usage is essential. In Belgium, optimization of antimicrobials for the fight against multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs) is followed up by national surveillance by public health authorities. To improve appropriate antimicrobial use in hospitals, an effective national Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) program should include indicators for measuring both the quantity and quality of antibiotic use.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to develop a set of process quality indicators (QIs) to evaluate and improve AMS in hospitals.

METHODS

A RAND-modified Delphi procedure was used. The procedure consisted of a structured narrative literature review to select the QIs, followed by two online questionnaires and an intermediate multidisciplinary panel discussion with experts in infectious diseases from general and teaching hospitals in Belgium.

RESULTS

A total of 38 QIs were selected after the RAND-modified Delphi procedure, from which 11 QIs were selected unanimously. These QIs address compliancy of antibiotic therapy and prophylaxis with local guidelines, documentation of the rationale for antibiotic treatment in the medical record, the availability of AMS Programs and Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy, resistance patterns and antimicrobial prescribing during focused ward rounds.

CONCLUSION

Our study selected 38 relevant process QIs, from which 11 were unanimously selected. The QIs can contribute to the improvement of quality of antibiotic use by stimulating hospitals to present better outcomes and by providing a focus on how to intervene and to improve prescribing of antimicrobials.

Rapid and Point-of-Care Testing in Respiratory Tract Infections: An Antibiotic Guardian?

This is a narrative review on the potential of rapid and point-of-care microbiological testing in pneumonia patients, focusing particularly on hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia, which have substantial mortality and diverse microbiology. This work is written from a United Kingdom perspective, but much of it is generalizable internationally. In a world where antimicrobial resistance is a major international threat, the use of rapid molecular diagnostics has great potential to improve both the management of pneumonia patients and the stewardship of antibiotics. Rapid tests potentially can distinguish patients with bacterial versus viral infection and can swiftly identify bacterial pathogens and their resistances. We seek to answer the question: “Can such tests be used as an antibiotic guardian?” Their availability at the bedside rather than in the laboratory should best ensure that results are swiftly used to optimize patient management but will raise new challenges, not the least with respect to maintaining quality control and microbiology/infection control input. A further challenge lies in assessing the degree of trust that treating clinicians will place in these molecular diagnostic tests, particularly when early de-escalation of antibiotic therapy is indicated.

Value of hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs [ASPs]: a systematic review

Background

Hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) aim to promote judicious use of antimicrobials to combat antimicrobial resistance. For ASPs to be developed, adopted, and implemented, an economic value assessment is essential. Few studies demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of ASPs. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the economic and clinical impact of ASPs.

Methods

An update to the Dik et al. systematic review (2000–2014) was conducted on EMBASE and Medline using PRISMA guidelines. The updated search was limited to primary research studies in English (30 September 2014–31 December 2017) that evaluated patient and/or economic outcomes after implementation of hospital ASPs including length of stay (LOS), antimicrobial use, and total (including operational and implementation) costs.

Results

One hundred forty-six studies meeting inclusion criteria were included. The majority of these studies were conducted within the last 5 years in North America (49%), Europe (25%), and Asia (14%), with few studies conducted in Africa (3%), South America (3%), and Australia (3%). Most studies were conducted in hospitals with 500–1000 beds and evaluated LOS and change in antibiotic expenditure, the majority of which showed a decrease in LOS (85%) and antibiotic expenditure (92%). The mean cost-savings varied by hospital size and region after implementation of ASPs. Average cost savings in US studies were $732 per patient (range: $2.50 to $2640), with similar trends exhibited in European studies. The key driver of cost savings was from reduction in LOS. Savings were higher among hospitals with comprehensive ASPs which included therapy review and antibiotic restrictions.

Conclusions

Our data indicates that hospital ASPs have significant value with beneficial clinical and economic impacts. More robust published data is required in terms of implementation, LOS, and overall costs so that decision-makers can make a stronger case for investing in ASPs, considering competing priorities. Such data on ASPs in lower- and middle-income countries is limited and requires urgent attention.

Procalcitonin as Biomarker of Infection: Implications for Evaluation and Treatment

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a quickly measurable marker, assumed to have high sensitivity and specificity for sepsis and infection. A literature search was conducted to evaluate PCT ability as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in infectious processes and its ability to monitor the antibiotic therapy. PCT level is increased in bacterial and fungal infections, but not in viral infections, with a significantly higher level in patients with bacteremia compared with uninfected patients (2.5 vs. 0.3 ng/mL; P < 0.0001). A PCT value of ≤0.1 ng/mL discards bacteremia and microbiological tests (negative predictive value of 96.3%), >0.1 ng/mL needs microbiological tests, and >1.0 ng/mL is indicative of bacteremia. Antibiotic treatment algorithms guided by PCT decreased the need for antibiotic treatment in approximately 50%. PCT is a promising test in clinical practice to decide the introduction of antibiotic therapy in addition to the existing tools, without neglecting the clinical assessment, with a significant decrease in costs.

Procalcitonin to initiate or discontinue antibiotics in acute respiratory tract infections

BACKGROUND

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) comprise of a large and heterogeneous group of infections including bacterial, viral, and other aetiologies. In recent years, procalcitonin (PCT), a blood marker for bacterial infections, has emerged as a promising tool to improve decisions about antibiotic therapy (PCT-guided antibiotic therapy). Several randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the feasibility of using procalcitonin for starting and stopping antibiotics in different patient populations with ARIs and different settings ranging from primary care settings to emergency departments, hospital wards, and intensive care units. However, the effect of using procalcitonin on clinical outcomes is unclear. This is an update of a Cochrane review and individual participant data meta-analysis first published in 2012 designed to look at the safety of PCT-guided antibiotic stewardship.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this systematic review based on individual participant data was to assess the safety and efficacy of using procalcitonin for starting or stopping antibiotics over a large range of patients with varying severity of ARIs and from different clinical settings.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), which contains the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group's Specialised Register, MEDLINE, and Embase, in February 2017, to identify suitable trials. We also searched ClinicalTrials.gov to identify ongoing trials in April 2017.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included RCTs of adult participants with ARIs who received an antibiotic treatment either based on a procalcitonin algorithm (PCT-guided antibiotic stewardship algorithm) or usual care. We excluded trials if they focused exclusively on children or used procalcitonin for a purpose other than to guide initiation and duration of antibiotic treatment.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two teams of review authors independently evaluated the methodology and extracted data from primary studies. The primary endpoints were all-cause mortality and treatment failure at 30 days, for which definitions were harmonised among trials. Secondary endpoints were antibiotic use, antibiotic-related side effects, and length of hospital stay. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using multivariable hierarchical logistic regression adjusted for age, gender, and clinical diagnosis using a fixed-effect model. The different trials were added as random-effects into the model. We conducted sensitivity analyses stratified by clinical setting and type of ARI. We also performed an aggregate data meta-analysis.

MAIN RESULTS

From 32 eligible RCTs including 18 new trials for this 2017 update, we obtained individual participant data from 26 trials including 6708 participants, which we included in the main individual participant data meta-analysis. We did not obtain individual participant data for four trials, and two trials did not include people with confirmed ARIs. According to GRADE, the quality of the evidence was high for the outcomes mortality and antibiotic exposure, and quality was moderate for the outcomes treatment failure and antibiotic-related side effects.Primary endpoints: there were 286 deaths in 3336 procalcitonin-guided participants (8.6%) compared to 336 in 3372 controls (10.0%), resulting in a significantly lower mortality associated with procalcitonin-guided therapy (adjusted OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.99, P = 0.037). We could not estimate mortality in primary care trials because only one death was reported in a control group participant. Treatment failure was not significantly lower in procalcitonin-guided participants (23.0% versus 24.9% in the control group, adjusted OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.01, P = 0.068). Results were similar among subgroups by clinical setting and type of respiratory infection, with no evidence for effect modification (P for interaction > 0.05). Secondary endpoints: procalcitonin guidance was associated with a 2.4-day reduction in antibiotic exposure (5.7 versus 8.1 days, 95% CI -2.71 to -2.15, P < 0.001) and lower risk of antibiotic-related side effects (16.3% versus 22.1%, adjusted OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.82, P < 0.001). Length of hospital stay and intensive care unit stay were similar in both groups. A sensitivity aggregate-data analysis based on all 32 eligible trials showed similar results.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

This updated meta-analysis of individual participant data from 12 countries shows that the use of procalcitonin to guide initiation and duration of antibiotic treatment results in lower risks of mortality, lower antibiotic consumption, and lower risk for antibiotic-related side effects. Results were similar for different clinical settings and types of ARIs, thus supporting the use of procalcitonin in the context of antibiotic stewardship in people with ARIs. Future high-quality research is needed to confirm the results in immunosuppressed patients and patients with non-respiratory infections.

Can rapid negative exclusion of blood cultures by a molecular method, enzyme template generation and amplification technique (Cognitor® Minus), aid antimicrobial stewardship?

OBJECTIVES

Antimicrobial review is an important part of antimicrobial stewardship. A novel enzyme template generation and amplification technique (ETGA), the Cognitor^® Minus (Momentum Bioscience, Long Hanborough, UK) test, has a 99.5% negative predictive value for bacteraemia and fungaemia. This observational study asked two questions: (1) Does a negative ETGA, indicating no bacteraemia or fungaemia, aid antimicrobial review within 48 h of admission; (2) In this real-life clinical setting, does a negative ETGA mean no bacteraemia or fungaemia?

METHODS

Consecutive blood cultures in patients with clinical infection were tested by ETGA. Negative results indicating an absence of bacteraemia or fungaemia were reviewed by the clinical infection team. Antibiotics were reviewed in these patients, and the role of the ETGA result in antibiotic change was recorded. Patients were followed up for a week.

KEY FINDINGS

A total of 197 of 246 samples gave a negative result by ETGA. This led to a positive stewardship outcome (antimicrobials changed) in 145 (73.6%) and negative stewardship outcome (empirical antimicrobials continued) in 47 (23.9%). Of the positive stewardship outcomes, the ETGA result supported the decision not to start antimicrobials in 21 (10.7%) patients, to stop antimicrobials in 21 (10.7%), to switch from IV to oral antimicrobials in 103 (52.2%) or to discharge or leave the patient at home in 58 cases (29.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

Enzyme template generation and amplification supports antimicrobial stewardship decisions and may have cost advantages in reducing unnecessary empirical antibiotics and antifungal agents and in discharging patients from hospital earlier. ETGA result was consistent with blood culture findings and gave an earlier negative result.

Procalcitonin testing to guide antibiotic therapy for the treatment of sepsis in intensive care settings and for suspected bacterial infection in emergency department settings: a systematic review and cost-effectiveness analysis

BACKGROUND

Determination of the presence or absence of bacterial infection is important to guide appropriate therapy and reduce antibiotic exposure. Procalcitonin (PCT) is an inflammatory marker that has been suggested as a marker for bacterial infection.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adding PCT testing to the information used to guide antibiotic therapy in adults and children (1) with confirmed or highly suspected sepsis in intensive care and (2) presenting to the emergency department (ED) with suspected bacterial infection.

METHODS

Twelve databases were searched to June 2014. Randomised controlled trials were assessed for quality using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Summary relative risks (RRs) and weighted mean differences (WMDs) were estimated using random-effects models. Heterogeneity was assessed visually using forest plots and statistically using the I (2) and Q statistics and investigated through subgroup analysis. The cost-effectiveness of PCT testing in addition to current clinical practice was compared with current clinical practice using a decision tree with a 6 months' time horizon.

RESULTS

Eighteen studies (36 reports) were included in the systematic review. PCT algorithms were associated with reduced antibiotic duration [WMD -3.19 days, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.44 to -0.95 days, I (2) = 95.2%; four studies], hospital stay (WMD -3.85 days, 95% CI -6.78 to -0.92 days, I (2) = 75.2%; four studies) and a trend towards reduced intensive care unit (ICU) stay (WMD -2.03 days, 95% CI -4.19 to 0.13 days, I (2) = 81.0%; four studies). There were no differences for adverse clinical outcomes. PCT algorithms were associated with a reduction in the proportion of adults (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.87; seven studies) and children (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.93) receiving antibiotics, reduced antibiotic duration (two studies). There were no differences for adverse clinical outcomes. All but one of the studies in the ED were conducted in people presenting with respiratory symptoms. Cost-effectiveness: the base-case analyses indicated that PCT testing was cost-saving for (1) adults with confirmed or highly suspected sepsis in an ICU setting; (2) adults with suspected bacterial infection presenting to the ED; and (3) children with suspected bacterial infection presenting to the ED. Cost-savings ranged from £368 to £3268. Moreover, PCT-guided treatment resulted in a small quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gain (ranging between < 0.001 and 0.005). Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves showed that PCT-guided treatment has a probability of ≥ 84% of being cost-effective for all settings and populations considered (at willingness-to-pay thresholds of £20,000 and £30,000 per QALY).

CONCLUSIONS

The limited available data suggest that PCT testing may be effective and cost-effective when used to guide discontinuation of antibiotics in adults being treated for suspected or confirmed sepsis in ICU settings and initiation of antibiotics in adults presenting to the ED with respiratory symptoms and suspected bacterial infection. However, it is not clear that observed costs and effects are directly attributable to PCT testing, are generalisable outside people presenting with respiratory symptoms (for the ED setting) and would be reproducible in the UK NHS. Further studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of adding PCT algorithms to the information used to guide antibiotic treatment in children with suspected or confirmed sepsis in ICU settings. Additional research is needed to examine whether the outcomes presented in this report are fully generalisable to the UK.

STUDY REGISTRATION

This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42014010822.

FUNDING

The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.

Procalcitonin Levels in Survivors and Nonsurvivors of Sepsis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Procalcitonin (PCT) is an acute-phase reactant that has been used to diagnose and potentially track the treatment of sepsis. Procalcitonin values rise initially as the infection sets in and eventually fall with resolution. Its level has been reported to be significantly higher in potential nonsurvivors of a septic episode than among survivors. However, there is also a significant amount of evidence against this. We thus conducted a meta-analysis to pool data from all the available studies regarding PCT levels in survivors and nonsurvivors of sepsis. An extensive literature search was conducted using the key words "procalcitonin," "sepsis," and "prognosis." The references of the relevant studies were also scanned. The data from the eligible studies were extracted and analyzed for any significant pooled mean difference between survivors and nonsurvivors both on days 1 and 3. The mean difference in the day 1 PCT values between survivors and nonsurvivors was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.02). The mean difference on day 3 was also statistically significant (P = 0.002). However, in a subgroup consisting of studies on patients with severe sepsis and septic shock, day 1 difference was not found to be significant (P = 0.62). We found heterogeneity of 90% in our study population, which decreased to 62% after exclusion of studies conducted in emergency department patients. Procalcitonin levels in early stages of sepsis are significantly lower among survivors as compared with nonsurvivors of sepsis.

Procalcitonin levels predict infectious complications and response to treatment in patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery for peritoneal malignancy

BACKGROUND

Cytoreductive-surgery for peritoneal-malignancy (PM) involves extensive intra-abdominal surgery and a massive post-operative systemic-inflammatory-response (SIRS). It is often challenging to differentiate SIRS that are solely surgery-associated from those of post-operative infections. White-Cell-Counts (WCC) and C-Reactive-Protein (CRP) are routinely used as markers for infection, but are non-specific and their elevation is often delayed in PM cases. Other markers need to be evaluated to assist early identification/prediction of post-operative infections.

METHODOLOGY

Prospective evaluation of serum procalcitonin (PCT), CRP and WCC in 50 patients pre-operatively (Day0), and on post-operative days (POD) 1, 3 & 6, following cytoreductive-surgery with or without splenectomy.

RESULTS

Day0 PCT, CRP and WCC values were within normal limits, but increasing physiologically in post-operative period without infection, with noticeable higher PCT in splenectomized patients. In our cohort post-operative infections were diagnosed in 14 patients, often within 48 h. There was a trend for faster rise in serum PCT on POD1 compared to CRP and WCC, and faster PCT decline following appropriate therapy on POD3 and POD6 when infected cases were clinically resolving while WCC and CRP continued to rise, particularly in non-spelenectomised patients. The AUC on POD1 was significantly higher for PCT (0.689) vs. WCC (0.476) and CRP (0.477) (p = 0.04). Sensitivity, specificity, positive-predictive-value and negative-predictive-values for PCT ranged between (57%-100%), (22%-74%), (33%-47%) & (81%-100%), for CRP (28%-78%), (5.5%-86%), (18%-44.4%) & (40%-75.5%) and for WCC (14%-26.5%), (65.5-80.5%), (22%-25%), (67%-70%) respectively.

CONCLUSION

PCT, like WCC and CRP, needs to be interpreted with extreme cautions in the context of infections post-cytoreductive-surgery and should only be used in association with other clinical and investigational findings.

Strategies for appropriate antibiotic use in intensive care unit

The comsumption of antibiotics is high, mainly in intensive care units. Unfortunately, most are inappropriately used leading to increased multi-resistant bacteria. It is well known that initial empirical therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics reduce mortality rates. However the prolonged and irrational use of antimicrobials may also increase the risk of toxicity, drug interactions and diarrhea due to Clostridium difficile. Some strategies to rational use of antimicrobial agents include avoiding colonization treatment, de-escalation, monitoring serum levels of the agents, appropriate duration of therapy and use of biological markers. This review discusses the effectiveness of these strategies, the importance of microbiology knowledge, considering there are agents resistant to Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, and reducing antibiotic use and bacterial resistance, with no impact on mortality.

Narrative review of primary care point-of-care testing (POCT) and antibacterial use in respiratory tract infection (RTI)

Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem and is being addressed through national strategies to improve diagnostics, develop new antimicrobials and promote antimicrobial stewardship. A narrative review of the literature was undertaken to ascertain the value of C reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin, measurements to guide antibacterial prescribing in adult patients presenting to GP practices with symptoms of respiratory tract infection (RTI). Studies that were included were randomised controlled trials, controlled before and after studies, cohort studies and economic evaluations. Many studies demonstrated that the use of CRP tests in patients presenting with RTI symptoms reduces antibiotic prescribing by 23.3% to 36.16%. Procalcitonin is not currently available as a point-of-care testing (POCT), but has shown value for patients with RTI admitted to hospital. GPs and patients report a good acceptability for a CRP POCT and economic evaluations show cost-effectiveness of CRP POCT over existing RTI management in primary care. POCTs increase diagnostic precision for GPs in the better management of patients with RTI. CRP POCT can better target antibacterial prescribing by GPs and contribute to national antimicrobial resistance strategies. Health services need to develop ways to ensure funding is transferred in order for POCT to be implemented.

A PCT algorithm for discontinuation of antibiotic therapy is a cost-effective way to reduce antibiotic exposure in adult intensive care patients with sepsis

OBJECTIVE

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a specific marker for differentiating bacterial from non-infective causes of inflammation. It can be used to guide initiation and duration of antibiotic therapy in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with suspected sepsis, and might reduce the duration of hospital stay. Limiting antibiotic treatment duration is highly important because antibiotic over-use may cause patient harm, prolonged hospital stay, and resistance development. Several systematic reviews show that a PCT algorithm for antibiotic discontinuation is safe, but upfront investment required for PCT remains an important barrier against implementation. The current study investigates to what extent this PCT algorithm is a cost-effective use of scarce healthcare resources in ICU patients with sepsis compared to current practice.

METHODS

A decision tree was developed to estimate the health economic consequences of the PCT algorithm for antibiotic discontinuation from a Dutch hospital perspective. Input data were obtained from a systematic literature review. When necessary, additional information was gathered from open interviews with clinical chemists and intensivists. The primary effectiveness measure is defined as the number of antibiotic days, and cost-effectiveness is expressed as incremental costs per antibiotic day avoided.

RESULTS

The PCT algorithm for antibiotic discontinuation is expected to reduce hospital spending by circa € 3503 per patient, indicating savings of 9.2%. Savings are mainly due to reductions in length of hospital stay, number of blood cultures performed, and, importantly, days on antibiotic therapy. Probabilistic and one-way sensitivity analyses showed the model outcome to be robust against changes in model inputs.

CONCLUSION

Proven safe, a PCT algorithm for antibiotic discontinuation is a cost-effective means of reducing antibiotic exposure in adult ICU patients with sepsis, compared to current practice. Additional resources required for PCT are more than offset by downstream cost savings. This finding is highly important given the aim of preventing widespread antibiotic resistance.

Procalcitonin levels in fresh serum and fresh synovial fluid for the differential diagnosis of knee septic arthritis from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and gouty arthritis

Whether the levels of procalcitonin (PCT) in the serum and synovial fluid are effective indicators for distinguishing septic arthritis (SA) from non-infectious arthritis remains controversial. The present study aimed to evaluate whether PCT levels in fresh serum or fresh joint fluid may be used in the differential diagnosis of SA from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA) and gouty arthritis (GA). From January 2012 to June 2013, 23 patients with knee SA, 21 patients with RA, 40 patients with OA and 11 patients with GA were enrolled in the current study. The levels of PCT were measured within 24 h after specimen collection at room temperature. An enzyme-linked fluorescence assay (ELFA) was used to detect the levels of PCT in the serum and synovial fluid. The correlations between the levels of PCT in the serum and synovial fluid and the arthritic patient groups were determined by the Nemenyi test. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were calculated to evaluate the accuracy of the correlations. The levels of PCT in the serum and joint fluid of the patients in the SA group were higher compared with those of the other groups (P<0.01) and there were no significant differences among the RA, OA and GA groups in these levels. A PCT level of <0.5 μg/l in the serum and synovial fluid had high specificity in the differential diagnosis of SA from RA, OA and GA. Synovial fluid PCT revealed significantly greater sensitivity than serum PCT. The accuracy of the differential diagnosis of SA by the serum levels of PCT was significantly lower than that by the synovial fluid levels of PCT. The levels of PCT in the serum and synovial fluid may be used as alternative laboratory indicators to distinguish between SA and the non-infectious types of arthritis; however, the PCT levels in fresh synovial fluid are more sensitive and accurate indicators than PCT levels in fresh serum.

Importance of antimicrobial stewardship to the English National Health Service

Antimicrobials are an extremely valuable resource across the spectrum of modern medicine. Their development has been associated with dramatic reductions in communicable disease mortality and has facilitated technological advances in cancer therapy, transplantation, and surgery. However, this resource is threatened by the dwindling supply of new antimicrobials and the global increase in antimicrobial resistance. There is an urgent need for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) to protect our remaining antimicrobials for future generations. AMS emphasizes sensible, appropriate antimicrobial management for the benefit of the individual and society as a whole. Within the English National Health Service (NHS), a series of recent policy initiatives have focused on all aspects of AMS, including best practice guidelines for antimicrobial prescribing, enhanced surveillance mechanisms for monitoring antimicrobial use across primary and secondary care, and new prescribing competencies for doctors in training. Here we provide a concise summary to clarify the current position and importance of AMS within the NHS and review the evidence base for AMS recommendations. The evidence supports the impact of AMS strategies on modifying prescribing practice in hospitals, with beneficial effects on both antimicrobial resistance and the incidence of Clostridium difficile, and no evidence of increased sepsis-related mortality. There is also a promising role for novel diagnostic technologies in AMS, both in enhancing microbiological diagnosis and improving the specificity of sepsis diagnosis. More work is needed to establish an evidence base for interventions to improve public and patient education regarding the role of antibiotics in common clinical syndromes, such as respiratory tract infection. Future priorities include establishing novel approaches to antimicrobial management (eg, duration of therapy, combination regimens) to protect against resistance and working with the pharmaceutical industry to promote the development of new antimicrobials.

Measuring synovial fluid procalcitonin levels in distinguishing cases of septic arthritis, including prosthetic joints, from other causes of arthritis and aseptic loosening

OBJECTIVES

Differentiating septic arthritis from non-septic arthritis can be challenging as the clinical pictures are similar and an efficacious diagnostic test is not yet available. Our objectives in this study were to establish if procalcitonin (PCT) could be reproducibly measured from synovial fluid, if there is a difference in synovial procalcitonin values between patients with septic and non-septic arthritis, respectively, including those with implants and to determine cut-off levels that could be used as a practical tool in the management of these conditions.

METHODS

Using a standard serum assay, synovial fluid PCT levels were measured retrospectively in 26 septic and 50 non-septic predefined arthritis cases. The reproducibility of synovial PCT was also assessed at various concentrations.

RESULTS

Synovial PCT can be measured and is reproducible. In this cohort, statistically significant higher synovial PCT levels were found in cases of septic arthritis than in non-septic arthritis. Sensitivities, specificities and positive and negative predictive values varied at different cut-off levels.

CONCLUSION

The test could be added to other microbiological and biochemical tests and may be used to supplement other clinical, radiological and laboratory findings in the assessment of patients with acute painful joints. In our cohort, findings of very high synovial PCT levels supported an infection process, including in prosthesis-related infections. The high negative predictive value of low synovial PCT levels could exclude infection in both native and prosthetic joints. Larger prospective studies are needed to further validate these results and to examine the cost effectiveness of synovial PCT.

Revolutionising bacteriology to improve treatment outcomes and antibiotic stewardship

Laboratory investigation of bacterial infections generally takes two days: one to grow the bacteria and another to identify them and to test their susceptibility. Meanwhile the patient is treated empirically, based on likely pathogens and local resistance rates. Many patients are over-treated to prevent under-treatment of a few, compromising antibiotic stewardship. Molecular diagnostics have potential to improve this situation by accelerating precise diagnoses and the early refinement of antibiotic therapy. They include: (i) the use of 'biomarkers' to swiftly distinguish patients with bacterial infection, and (ii) molecular bacteriology to identify pathogens and their resistance genes in clinical specimens, without culture. Biomarker interest centres on procalcitonin, which has given good results particularly for pneumonias, though broader biomarker arrays may prove superior in the future. PCRs already are widely used to diagnose a few infections (e.g. tuberculosis) whilst multiplexes are becoming available for bacteraemia, pneumonia and gastrointestinal infection. These detect likely pathogens, but are not comprehensive, particularly for resistance genes; there is also the challenge of linking pathogens and resistance genes when multiple organisms are present in a sample. Next-generation sequencing offers more comprehensive profiling, but obstacles include sensitivity when the bacterial load is low, as in bacteraemia, and the imperfect correlation of genotype and phenotype. In short, rapid molecular bacteriology presents great potential to improve patient treatments and antibiotic stewardship but faces many technical challenges; moreover it runs counter to the current nostrum of defining resistance in pharmacodynamic terms, rather than by the presence of a mechanism, and the policy of centralising bacteriology services.

A survey on infection management practices in Italian ICUs

Introduction

An online survey was conducted to characterize current infection management practices in Italian intensive care units (ICUs), including the antibacterial and antifungal drug regimens prescribed for various types of infections.

Methods

During February and March 2011, all 450 ICUs in public hospitals in Italy were invited to take part in an online survey. The questionnaire focused on ICU characteristics, methods used to prevent, diagnose, and treat infections, and antimicrobials prescribing policies. The frequency of each reported practice was calculated as a percentage of the total number of units answering the question. The overall response rate to the questionnaire was 38.8% (175 of the 450 ICUs contacted) with homogeneous distribution across the country and in terms of unit type.

Results

Eighty-eight percent of the responding facilities performed periodical surveillance cultures on all patients. In 71% of patients, cultures were also collected on admission. Endotracheal/bronchial aspirates were the most frequently cultured specimens at both time points. Two-thirds of the responding units had never performed screening cultures for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Around 67% of the ICUs reported the use of antimicrobial de-escalation strategies during the treatment phase. In general, the use of empirical antimicrobial drug regimens was appropriate. Although the rationale for the choice was not always clearly documented, the use of a combination therapy was preferred over antibiotic monotherapy. The preferred first-line agents for invasive candidiasis were fluconazole and an echinocandin (64% and 25%, respectively). Two-thirds of the ICUs monitored vancomycin serum levels and administered it by continuous infusion in 86% of cases. For certain antibiotics, reported doses were too low to ensure effective treatment of severe infections in critically ill patients; conversely, inappropriately high doses were administered for certain antifungal drugs.

Conclusions

Although infection control policies and management practices are generally appropriate in Italian ICUs, certain aspects, such as the extensive use of multidrug empirical regimens and the inappropriate antimicrobial dosing, deserve careful management and closer investigation.

Procalcitonin to initiate or discontinue antibiotics in acute respiratory tract infections

BACKGROUND

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) comprise a large and heterogeneous group of infections including bacterial, viral and other aetiologies. In recent years, procalcitonin - the prohormone of calcitonin - has emerged as a promising marker for the diagnosis of bacterial infections and for improving decisions about antibiotic therapy. Several randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the feasibility of using procalcitonin for starting and stopping antibiotics in different patient populations with acute respiratory infections and different settings ranging from primary care to emergency departments (EDs), hospital wards and intensive care units (ICUs).

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this systematic review based on individual patient data was to assess the safety and efficacy of using procalcitonin for starting or stopping antibiotics over a large range of patients with varying severity of ARIs and from different clinical settings.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL 2011, Issue 2) which contains the Acute Respiratory Infections Group's Specialised Register, MEDLINE (1966 to May 2011) and EMBASE (1974 to May 2011) to identify suitable trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included RCTs of adult participants with ARIs who received an antibiotic treatment either based on a procalcitonin algorithm or usual care/guidelines. Trials were excluded if they exclusively focused on paediatric patients or if they used procalcitonin for another purpose than to guide initiation and duration of antibiotic treatment.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two teams of review authors independently evaluated the methodology and extracted data from primary studies. The primary endpoints were all-cause mortality and treatment failure at 30 days. For the primary care setting, treatment failure was defined as death, hospitalisation, ARI-specific complications, recurrent or worsening infection, and patients reporting any symptoms of an ongoing respiratory infection at follow-up. For the ED setting, treatment failure was defined as death, ICU admission, re-hospitalisation after index hospital discharge, ARI-associated complications, and recurrent or worsening infection within 30 days of follow-up. For the ICU setting, treatment failure was defined as death within 30 days of follow-up. Secondary endpoints were antibiotic use (initiation of antibiotics, duration of antibiotics and total exposure to antibiotics (total amount of antibiotic days divided by total number of patients)), length of hospital stay for hospitalised patients, length of ICU stay for critically ill patients, and number of days with restricted activities within 14 days after randomisation for primary care patients.For the two co-primary endpoints of all-cause mortality and treatment failure, we calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using multivariable hierarchical logistic regression. The hierarchical regression model was adjusted for age and clinical diagnosis as fixed-effect. The different trials were added as random-effects into the model. We fitted corresponding linear regression models for antibiotic use. We conducted sensitivity analyses stratified by clinical setting and ARI diagnosis to assess the consistency of our results.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 14 trials with 4221 participants. There were 118 deaths in 2085 patients (5.7%) assigned to procalcitonin groups compared to 134 deaths in 2126 control patients (6.3%) (adjusted OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.23). Treatment failure occurred in 398 procalcitonin group patients (19.1%) and in 466 control patients (21.9%). Procalcitonin guidance was not associated with increased mortality or treatment failure in any clinical setting, or ARI diagnosis. These results proved robust in various sensitivity analyses. Total antibiotic exposure was significantly reduced overall (median (interquartile range) from 8 (5 to 12) to 4 (0 to 8) days; adjusted difference in days, -3.47, 95% CI -3.78 to -3.17, and across all the different clinical settings and diagnoses.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Use of procalcitonin to guide initiation and duration of antibiotic treatment in patients with ARI was not associated with higher mortality rates or treatment failure. Antibiotic consumption was significantly reduced across different clinical settings and ARI diagnoses. Further high-quality research is needed to confirm the safety of this approach for non-European countries and patients in intensive care. Moreover, future studies should also establish cost-effectiveness by considering country-specific costs of procalcitonin measurement and potential savings in consumption of antibiotics and other healthcare resources, as well as secondary cost savings due to lower risk of side effects and reduced antimicrobial resistance.

The use of a standardized PCT-algorithm reduces costs in intensive care in septic patients - a DRG-based simulation model

INTRODUCTION

The management of bloodstream infections especially sepsis is a difficult task. An optimal antibiotic therapy (ABX) is paramount for success. Procalcitonin (PCT) is a well investigated biomarker that allows close monitoring of the infection and management of ABX. It has proven to be a cost-efficient diagnostic tool. In Diagnoses Related Groups (DRG) based reimbursement systems, hospitals get only a fixed amount of money for certain treatments. Thus it's very important to obtain an optimal balance of clinical treatment and resource consumption namely the length of stay in hospital and especially in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We investigated which economic effects an optimized PCT-based algorithm for antibiotic management could have.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We collected inpatient episode data from 16 hospitals. These data contain administrative and clinical information such as length of stay, days in the ICU or diagnoses and procedures. From various RCTs and reviews there are different algorithms for the use of PCT to manage ABX published. Moreover RCTs and meta-analyses have proven possible savings in days of ABX (ABD) and length of stay in ICU (ICUD). As the meta-analyses use studies on different patient populations (pneumonia, sepsis, other bacterial infections), we undertook a short meta-analyses of 6 relevant studies investigating in sepsis or ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). From this analyses we obtained savings in ABD and ICUD by calculating the weighted mean differences. Then we designed a new PCT-based algorithm using results from two very recent reviews. The algorithm contains evidence from several studies. From the patient data we calculated cost estimates using German National standard costing information for the German G-DRG system. We developed a simulation model where the possible savings and the extra costs for (in average) 8 PCT tests due to our algorithm were brought into equation.

RESULTS

We calculated ABD savings of 4 days and ICUD reductions of -1.8 days. Our algorithm contains recommendations for ABX onset (PCT ≥ 0.5 ng/ml), validation whether ABX is appropriate or not (Delta from day 2 to day 3 ≥ 30% indicates inappropriate ABX) and recommendations for discontinuing ABX (PCT ≤ 0.25 ng/ml). We received 278,264 episode datasets where we identified by computer-based selection 3,263 cases with sepsis. After excluding cases with length of stay (LOS) too short to achieve the intended savings, we ended with 1,312 cases with ICUD and 268 cases without ICUD. Average length of stay of ICU-patients was 27.7 ± 25.7 days and for Non-ICU patients 17.5 ± 14.6 days respectively. ICU patients had an average of 8.8 ± 8.7 ICUD. - After applying the simulation model on this population we calculated possible savings of Euro -1,163,000 for ICU-patients and Euro -36,512 for Non-ICU patients.

DISCUSSION

Our findings concerning the savings from the reduction of ABD are consistent with other publications. Savings ICUD had never been economically evaluated so far. Our algorithm is able to possibly set a new standard in PCT-based ABX. However the findings are based on data modelling. The algorithm will be implemented in 5-10 hospitals in 2012 and effects in clinical reality measured 6 months after implementation.

CONCLUSION

Managing sepsis with daily monitoring of PCT using our refined algorithm is suitable to save substantial costs in hospitals. Implementation in clinical routine settings will show how much of the calculated effect will be achieved in reality.

Role of procalcitonin in managing adult patients with respiratory tract infections

Respiratory infections remain the most common reason why patients seek medical care in ambulatory and hospital settings, and they are the most frequent precursor of sepsis. In light of the limitations of clinical signs and symptoms and traditional microbiologic diagnostics for respiratory infections, blood biomarkers that correlate with the presence and extent of bacterial infections may provide additional useful information to improve diagnostic and prognostic efforts and help with therapeutic decisions in individual patients. A growing body of evidence supports the use of procalcitonin (PCT) to differentiate bacterial from viral respiratory diagnoses, to help risk stratify patients, and to guide antibiotic therapy decisions about initial need for, and optimal duration of, therapy. Although still relatively new on the clinical frontier, a series of randomized controlled trials have evaluated PCT protocols for antibiotic-related decision making and have included patients from different clinical settings and with different severities of respiratory infection. In these trials, initial PCT levels were effective in guiding decisions about the initiation of antibiotic therapy in lower-acuity patients, and subsequent measurements were effective for guiding duration of therapy in higher-acuity patients, without apparent harmful effects. Recent European respiratory infection guidelines now also recognize this concept. As with any other laboratory test, PCT should not be used on a stand-alone basis. Rather, it must be integrated into clinical protocols, together with clinical, microbiologic data and with results from clinical risk scores. The aim of this review is to summarize recent evidence about the usefulness of PCT in patients with lower respiratory tract infections and to discuss the potential benefits and limitations of this marker when used for clinical decision making.