Variability of treatment duration for bacteraemia in the critically ill: a multinational survey

OBJECTIVES: No definitive evidence is available to inform 'best' antibiotic practice for treating bacteraemia in the critically ill patient, either in terms of duration of therapy, or the use of mono- versus combination therapy. We therefore undertook a large-scale international survey to assess the variability of current practice. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to membership lists of national and international intensive care societies. RESULTS: Responses from 254 intensive care units in 34 countries revealed a wide variation in antibiotic strategy for all types of bacteraemia, ranging from short course (<or=5 days) therapy with restricted-spectrum antibiotics, to long course (>or=10 days) use of broad-spectrum combinations. Two factors were significantly associated with antibiotic prescribing practice, namely the country of origin (in those with >or=10 responders) and the level of microbiologist and/or infectious diseases specialist input. The greater the specialist input, the shorter the duration of therapy (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The wide variability in antibiotic prescribing patterns suggests an urgent need to produce high-quality evidence to identify optimal antibiotic prescribing policies for bacteraemia in the critically ill patient.