Journal
JOURNAL OF ANTIMICROBIAL CHEMOTHERAPY
Volume 60, Issue 2, Pages 356-362Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkm210
Keywords
home intravenous therapy; H-OPAT; S-OPAT; self-administration; complications
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Objectives: Provision of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is an evolving field, facilitating discharge from hospital for selected patients with serious infections. We report on a large OPAT cohort focusing on the practice of supervised parenteral antibiotic administration in the community by patients and relatives, which we collectively term 'self-administration'. To distinguish between healthcare professional OPAT and self-administered OPAT, we have coined the terms H-OPAT and S-OPAT, respectively. Patients and methods: We analysed data on 2059 OPAT episodes collected prospectively over a 13 year time period from 1993 to 2005. Results: Clinical diagnosis., microbiology and antibiotics in this OPAT series are comparable to those previously reported. We identified no excess complications or hospital re-admissions in the S-OPAT group compared with the H-OPAT group. Conclusions: Self-administration of intravenous antimicrobial therapy, in selected patients under the supervision of a specialist team, is a safe and feasible strategy.
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