Among adults in the ICU with sepsis or septic shock, the use of prolonged betalactam antibiotic infusions is associated with lower risk for 90-day mortality, according to research published in JAMA. Mohd H. Abdul-Aziz, PhD, and colleagues identified patients (N=9,108) in 18 eligible randomized clinical trials. For prolonged infusions of betalactam antibiotics, the pooled estimated risk ratio (RR) for all cause, 90-day mortality was 0.86 (I 2=21.5%; high certainty) compared with intermittent infusions. There was a 99.1% posterior probability that prolonged infusions were associated with lower 90-day mortality. Additionally, prolonged infusion was associated with a lower risk for ICU mortality (RR, 0.84; high certainty) and an increase in clinical cure (RR, 1.16; moderate certainty). The findings provide evidence for “prolonged infusions as a standard of care in the management of sepsis and septic shock,” Dr. Abdul-Aziz and colleagues wrote.
