The College of Pharmacy Monthly Research Publication Highlight compares the efficacy of antibiotics in patients with infections in intensive care units

The UK College of Pharmacy Research Publication Highlight for March, 2017 is titled “Comparison of ß-lactam plus aminoglycoside versus ß-lactam plus fluoroquinolone empirical therapy in serious nosocomial infections due to Gram-negative bacilli” and was published in the Journal of Chemotherapy.

The project was completed by investigators from the University of Kentucky College Of Pharmacy and UK Healthcare’s Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Pharmacy Services.  Dr. Benjamin Ereshefsky from the Department of Pharmacy Services is the study’s lead author.  Dr. Maji Al-Hasan in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Drs. Yevgeniya Gokun and Craig Martin of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science contributed to the work.  

The development of infections in intensive care units (ICU) is a common complication of ICU care and a significant contributor to mortality.  The investigators conducted a retrospective study of patients treated from 2005 to 2011 with anti-pseudomonal ß-lactam in combination with either a fluoroquinolone or an aminoglycoside, two commonly used therapeutic strategies employed to treat Gram-negative bacilli infections.  Cure rates were compared at 7 days and mortality 28 days following hospitalization.  The results show that both regimens are equally effective and eliminate over 70% of infections at 7 days.  Similarly, 28-day mortality was 20% and did not differ between treatments.  These data indicate that neither treatment is superior, but underscore the need for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to improve treatment of ICU-acquired infections and reduce mortality in the ICU patient population.