BackgroundFalls are a common cause of morbidity and hospitalisation in older people. Inappropriate prescribing and polypharmacy contribute to falls risk in elderly patients. This study's aim was to quantify the problem and find out if medication review in the hospital setting led to deprescribing of medicines associated with falls risk.MethodsAdmissions records for elderly patients were examined to identify those whose presenting complaint included a fall. Inpatient medication charts, pharmaceutical care notes, medical notes and discharge summaries were examined to identify any falls-risk medicines from admission histories and to determine if any medication review took place, and whether or not changes were made as a result. In particular deprescribing and dose reduction details were analysed.Results100 patients over 70 years old were admitted following a fall during the 2 months study period. The mean number of medicines on admission was 6.8 per patient with polypharmacy found in 62/100 (62%). One or more falls-risk medicine was found in 65/100 (65%) patients. Medicines review was carried out in 86/100 (86%) of patients, and 59/697 (8.5%) medicines were deprescribed. Pharmacist involvement in medication review led to a significant reduction in the number of falls-risk medicines per patient (p=0.002).ConclusionsInappropriate prescribing and polypharmacy are found frequently in elderly patients at admission following a fall. Comprehensive medicines reviews should be carried out in all such patients with the objective of deprescribing or reducing doses to minimise risk of harm. Involvement of a pharmacist improves the rate of reduction of falls-risk medicines.
Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an ecological and economic crisis and stewardship of available antimicrobials is required. Electronic prescribing, where available, enables auditing of practice, yet in order to be efficient and effective in addressing inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing, better use of current and new technological interventions is needed. This retrospective observational evaluation looked at the impact of a commercial clinical decision support system (CDSS) on the workflow of an established antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) team. Material/methods Clinical, workflow, and pharmaceutical data from 3 months post implementation of CDSS were collated, and compared to the same 3 month periods in preceding years. The evaluation considered total interventions made, the types of intervention made, impact of said interventions, and time spent executing interventions. All antimicrobial data were adjusted for total daily defined doses (DDD) of intravenous antimicrobials. Results Productivity: In the 3 month evaluation period (Jun-Aug 2016) a total of 264 case reviews resulting in 298 AMS interventions were made. Compared to preceding years where 138 and 169 interventions were made (2013 and 2014 respectively). In 2013 49% of interventions were stopping medication and 30% change of therapy based on cultures and sensitivities compared to 25 and 17% in 2016. In contrast to previous years’, the CDSS instead enabled a greater number of dose/drug optimisation (13%), escalation of antimicrobials (12%) and intravenous (IV) to oral switch (11%) interventions. Patient Identification: Despite increased patient numbers post-CDSS, on average 46 min per day was spent compiling a patient list for review, compared to 59 min in 2014. The use of CDSS facilitated 15 interventions/1000DDD, compared to pre-intervention (9.4/1000DDD in 2013; 11.5/1000DDD in 2014). Conclusions Initial evaluation of the impact of this CDSS on AMS at the organisation has demonstrated effectiveness in terms of case finding, AMS team productivity, and workflow auditing. More importantly, patient infection management has been optimised with a shift in the emphasis of AMS interventions. It has contributed to the success of the healthcare provider achieving nationally set remunerated AMS targets.
The emergence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) as a major cause of invasive infection both within the UK and internationally poses a very real concern for all providers of healthcare. The burden of morbidity and mortality associated with CPE infections is well described. The need for early, targeted, effective and safe antimicrobial therapy remains key for the management of these infected patients yet reliable antimicrobial treatment options remain scarce. In the absence of a universal treatment for these CPE invasive infections, individual treatment options tailored to susceptibilities and severity of infection are required. This working group from within the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA) Pharmacy Infection Network has developed evidence-based treatment recommendations to support infection specialists in managing these complex infections. A systematic review of peer-reviewed research was performed and analysed. We report consensus recommendations for the management of CPE-associated infections. The national expert panel makes therapeutic recommendations regarding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the drugs and pharmacokinetic targets, dosing, dosage adjustment and monitoring of parameters for novel and established antimicrobial therapies with CPE activity. This manuscript provides the infection specialist with pragmatic and evidence-based options for the management of CPE infections.
Background With increasing frequency of resistant Gram-negative bacteria, temocillin has potential utility in reducing carbapenem use. The 2020 EUCAST guideline changes temocillin breakpoints and reclassifies isolates with an MIC of 0.001–16 mg/L as ‘susceptible, increased exposure’ necessitating 6 g/day rather than the previous 4 g/day, associated with significant cost implications. Objectives We explore the clinical utility and treatment failure rate of temocillin at 4 g/day dosing. Methods All adult inpatient electronic prescriptions of temocillin (3 days or greater) from March 2016 to October 2019 were retrieved using a clinical decision support system (ICNET®). Treatment success was defined as survival, no switch to broad-spectrum agent for the same indication and no subsequent recrudescence of infection, occurring within 30 days. Results Temocillin was used in 205 eligible patient-episodes, median age 79 years (IQR : 71–87 years), 42.4% female. Median temocillin course length was 5.9 days (IQR : 4.6–7.8 days). Indications for use: urinary tract infection (UTI) (n = 141), pneumonia (n = 53), other (n = 11). In total, 144 (70.2%) patients had targeted treatment; 74 (36.1%) against Escherichia coli, 70 (34.4%) other Enterobacterales. A total of 130 (63%) patients received 4 g/day; the remaining patients had reduced renal function with dosing in accordance with guidance. Overall temocillin treatment success was 79.5%; highest when used to treat UTI 85.8% (versus 67.9% in respiratory infections, P = 0.008). Empirical treatment demonstrated 82.0% (50/61) success [versus 78.5% (113/144) among targeted treatment, P = 0. 71]. Conclusions Temocillin at 4 g/day is an effective and safe alternative in treating patients with Gram-negative infections, but should be considered in the context of patient age and comorbidities. Increased dosing or alternate strategies may be indicated when the infection is not of a urinary source.
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