Antimicrobial Stewardship in Hospitalized Patients with Respiratory Infections: Ten-Year Experience from the Robley Rex Louisville VA Medical Center

Authors

Leslie A. Beavin, University of LouisvilleFollow
Forest W. Arnold, University of LouisvilleFollow
Paula Peyrani, University of LouisvilleFollow
Anupama Raghuram, University of LouisvilleFollow
David Newman, Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Louisville, KYFollow
Ronald Smith, Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Louisville, KYFollow
Carmen Sciortino, Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Louisville, KYFollow
Stephen P. Furmanek, University of LouisvilleFollow
Ruth M. Carrico, University of LouisvilleFollow
Julio A. Ramirez, University of LouisvilleFollow

Funder

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Abstract

Rationale: Antibiotic stewardship has been defined as coordinated interventions designed to improve and measure the appropriate use of antibiotic agents. Respiratory infections are the most common infectious reason for hospitalization in the United States. Therefore, one could extrapolate that respiratory infections are then also the most common reason for hospital antibiotic use and possess the highest potential for hospital antibiotic misuse. The primary objective of this article was to evaluate the role of antimicrobial stewardship on improving antibiotic use for respiratory infections in hospitalized patients on intravenous (IV) antibiotics at the Robley Rex Louisville VAMC over a 10-year period.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of the Robley Rex Louisville VAMC ASP Switch Therapy and Antimicrobial Review database. The study included all Robley Rex Louisville VAMC patients admitted to the hospital and placed on IV antibiotics between January 1st 2007 and December 31st 2016.

Results: Recommendations from an antimicrobial stewardship team (AST) improve hospital IV antibiotic use in respiratory infections to a level above 90%.

Conclusion: AST recommendations regarding antibiotic use for respiratory infections improve compliance with hospital guidelines. There is an ongoing role for antimicrobial stewardship programs overtime.

DOI

10.18297/jri/vol1/iss4/7

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Beavin, Leslie A.; Arnold, Forest W.; Peyrani, Paula; Raghuram, Anupama; Newman, David; Smith, Ronald; Sciortino, Carmen; Furmanek, Stephen P.; Carrico, Ruth M.; and Ramirez, Julio A. (2017) "Antimicrobial Stewardship in Hospitalized Patients with Respiratory Infections: Ten-Year Experience from the Robley Rex Louisville VA Medical Center," The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections: Vol. 1 : Iss. 4 , Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/jri/vol1/iss4/7
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jri/vol1/iss4/7