Presse Med. 2004 Jan 31;33(2):130-6.

Control scale of antibiotic prescriptions in intensive care

THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: The improvement in the prescription of antibiotics (PA) is currently one of the stages necessary for the management of bacterial resistances. Patients admitted to intensive care, because of an acute affection or fragile territory, are frequently administered an antibiotic. The inappropriate nature of the PA is noted in 30 to 50% of cases. The inadequacy of the initial antibiotic therapy leads to an excessive increase in mortality and morbidity.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTROL TOOL: In order to improve our habits and help the prescribers, a panel of experts discussed the subject of the prescription of antibiotics during the 3rd day of the OutcomeRea Group. At the end of this meeting, practical guidelines together with a scale for the control of the prescription of antibiotics had been established.

COMMENTS: We targeted our discussion on the importance of empirical treatment and the need to document the infectious episode. Moreover, we discussed the choice of the antibiotic molecule and the crucial need to reassess the treatment set-up. We also approach the place of combinations of antibiotics and their indications in our units as well as the optimal duration of the treatments.