A CONSERVATIVE APPROACH TO THE INITIATION OF ANTIMICROBIALS IN CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS WITH SUSPECTED INFECTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED SURVIVAL

摘要

Appropriate, early antibiotic therapy is associated with improved outcomes, but the optimum timing for initiation of antibiotics is unknown. Two strategies exist: commencement of antimicrobials as soon as infection is suspected or initiation of treatment only after objective data (i.e., culture, x-ray, etc) confirms infection. We hypothesized that a more aggressive approach would improve patient mortality without affecting ICU-wide infection rates or ICU flora.