Abstract
There has been concern that the imperative to administer rapid antimicrobials in septic patients may result in inappropriate antimicrobial use. We aimed to determine the impact of early antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) team intervention in patients with Medical Emergency Team (MET) calls for suspected sepsis.
We performed a randomized controlled trial of non-ICU inpatients who had a MET call for suspected sepsis. Patients were randomized to standard care (management of antimicrobial therapy by the treating team) or early targeted intervention (AMS review 48 h post-MET call). The primary outcome was appropriateness of antimicrobial therapy 72 h post-MET call, as determined by a panel of blinded infectious diseases physicians.
= 0.71) between intervention and control groups, respectively.
AMS team intervention resulted in significant improvement in appropriateness of antimicrobial therapy following MET calls due to suspected sepsis. Targeted AMS review should be implemented to support early antimicrobial de-escalation and optimization in patients with suspected sepsis.