A recent study found that up to 90% of sepsis patients may be overtreated.
The study, published April 15 in Clinical Infectious Diseases and led by researchers from Brigham’s Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, analyzed medical records of 600 randomly selected adults that were treated for suspected sepsis in seven emergency departments between 2019 and 2022.
Here are four findings:
1. Of patients, 68.5% had definite or probable bacterial infections and 31.5% had possible but less likely or definitely no bacterial infections.
2. Among patients with definite or probable infections, 79.1% received overly broad antibiotics.
3. About 17% of patients developed potential antibiotic-associated complications within 90 days, most commonly a new infection or colonization with organisms resistant to first-line agents.
4. Mortality was higher for patients with less likely and definitely no bacterial infection at 9%, compared to 4.9% for those with definite or probable infection.
“Our findings support the concern that in the setting of sepsis policies that require rapid administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, empiric antibiotics for suspected sepsis are often unnecessary or broader than necessary in retrospect,” the study authors wrote. “These findings have important implications for antibiotic stewardship efforts in the face of ongoing quality improvement and policy initiatives that seek to speed delivery of broad-spectrum antibiotics for patients with suspected sepsis.”
