Is Combination Antibiotic Treatment Beneficial for Severe Sepsis?

19 Jul

Posted by SCCM as Concise Critical Appraisal

Combination empirical antimicrobial therapy, including agents that target Gram-negative bacteria, have been reported to lower mortality and morbidity in patients with severe sepsis. Investigators from the German-based SepNet trials group performed a randomized, open-label, parallel-group study to compare the effect of combination therapy with meropenem and moxifloxacin (combination therapy) versus meropenem alone (monotherapy) for empirical [...]

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Antibiotics in Septic Shock: Is Time Really of the Essence?

01 Sep

Posted by SCCM as Concise Critical Appraisal

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines recommend initiating broad-spectrum antibiotics within one hour to treat severe sepsis or septic shock. In September’s Critical Care Medicine, Puskarich et al studied the association between time to initial antibiotic administration and in-hospital mortality rates for septic patients treated with the quantitative resuscitation protocol. The study design was a preplanned [...]