Home intravenous antimicrobial therapy in multi-drug resistant microorganism infections

Background: Although home intravenous antimicrobial infusion therapy (HIVAIT) has proved its safety and efficacy in a great number of common infections, there are few published studies about its role in the treatment of infections caused by multi-drug resistant microorganisms. Our objectives are to study clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with multi-drug resistant microorganism infections treated with HIVAIT, and its usefulness in this type of infections. Methods: We analyzed all patients diagnosed of infections requiring HIVAIT and admitted to our Hospital at Home Unit (HHU) from March 2007 to February 2010. Subjects were divided into two groups: patients with multi-drug resistant microorganism infections as a study group, and the remaining patients as a control group. Results: A total of 487 patients were included, 82 in the study group. Comorbidity and physical dependence were higher in this group than in the control group (p = 0.000 and p = 0.002 respectively). The majority of patients were discharged because of a satisfactory clinical evolution. However, 17 (20.7%) patients in the study group required readmission to hospital during treatment and another 22 (26.8%) were re-admitted to hospital 3 months after discharge from HHU. There were significant differences between the results from the control group in clinical readmissions. Conclusions: Patients with multi-drug resistant microorganism infections and HIVAIT have higher comorbidity, physical dependence, and frequency of hospital readmissions. However, HIVAIT is useful in this kind of infections if the patients are appropriately selected. (C) 2011 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.