Clinical effectiveness of oral antimicrobial therapy for acute pyelonephritis caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriales

Infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriales (ESBL-PE) are commonly treated with intravenous antibiotics. This study investigated whether oral antimicrobial therapy (OAT) is as effective as intravenous antimicrobial therapy (IVT) for acute pyelonephritis (APN) caused by ESBL-PE. A retrospective cohort of patients with APN caused by ESBL-PE was studied at a tertiary-care hospital from January 2014 through December 2016. The OAT group comprised patients treated with an appropriate oral antimicrobial agent following 7 days or less of IVT. The primary endpoint was treatment failure defined as clinical and/or microbiological failure. The secondary endpoint was length of hospital stay and recurrences of APN within 2 months and within 1 year. Propensity score matching and multivariable Cox proportional hazard modeling were used to minimize bias. Among 238 eligible cases, Escherichia coli (83.6%) was the most common pathogen. Sixty patients received OAT after a median of four days of appropriate IVT, and 178 patients completed treatment with IVT. Fluoroquinolones (58.3%) were the most commonly prescribed OAT, followed by trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin-clavulanate. OAT was not associated with treatment failure (adjusted OR 0.66; 95% CI 0.18-2.44) and hospitalization length was shorter in the OAT group (6.2 days versus 10.7 days; P < 0.01). APN recurrence caused by ESBL-PE infection within 2 months was not associated with OAT (adjusted HR 0.56; 95% CI 0.16-2.00). OAT reduced hospital stay without adverse effects on treatment outcome. OAT could be safely applied as a carbapenem-saving option in treatment of APN.