Comparing clinical outcomes of piperacillin-tazobactam administration and dosage strategies in critically ill adult patients : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background: Recently, continuous administration of piperacillin-tazobactam has been proposed as a valuable alternative to traditional intermittent administration especially in critically ill patients. However, antibiotic dosing remains a challenge for clinicians as antibiotic dosing regimens are usually determined in non-critically-ill hospitalized adult patients. The aim was to conduct a systematic review to identify and highlight studies comparing clinical outcomes of piperacillin tazobactam dosing regimens, continuous/prolonged infusion vs intermittent infusion in critically ill patients. Meta-analyses were performed to assess the overall effect of dosing regimen on clinical efficacy. Methods: Studies were identified systematically through searches of PubMed and Science Direct, in compliance with PRISMA guidelines. Following the systematic literature review, meta-analyses were performed using Review Manager. Results: Twenty-three studies were included in the analysis involving 3828 critically ill adult participants in total (continuous/prolonged infusion = 2197 and intermittent infusion = 1631) from geographically diverse regions. Continuous/prolonged resulted in significantly: higher clinical cure rates (OR 1.56, 95% C.I 1.28-1.90, P = 0 .0001), lower mortality rates (OR 0.68, 95% C.I 0.55-0.84, P = 0 .0003), higher microbiological success rates (OR 1.52, 95% C.I 1.10-2.11, P = 0.01) and decreasing the length of hospital stay (OR -1.27, 95% C.I -2.45—0.08, P = 0.04) in critically ill patients. Conclusion: There is a significant level of evidence that clinical outcome in critically ill patients is improved in patients receiving piperacillin-tazobactam via continuous/prolonged infusion. Therefore, this alternative infusion strategy could be recommended in clinical practice

Comparing clinical outcomes of piperacillin-tazobactam administration and dosage strategies in critically ill adult patients : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: Background: Recently, continuous administration of piperacillin-tazobactam has been proposed as a valuable alternative to traditional intermittent administration especially in critically ill patients. However, antibiotic dosing remains a challenge for clinicians as antibiotic dosing regimens are usually determined in non-critically ill hospitalized adult patients. The aim was to conduct a systematic review to identify and highlight studies comparing clinical outcomes of piperacillin tazobactam dosing regimens, continuous/prolonged infusion vs intermittent infusion in critically ill patients. Meta-analyses were performed to assess the overall effect of dosing regimen on clinical efficacy. Methods: Studies were identified systematically through searches of PubMed and Science Direct, in compliance with PRISMA guidelines. Following the systematic literature review, meta-analyses were performed using Review Manager. Results: Twenty-three studies were included in the analysis involving 3828 critically ill adult participants in total (continuous/prolonged infusion = 2197 and intermittent infusion = 1631) from geographically diverse regions. Continuous/prolonged resulted in significantly: higher clinical cure rates (Odds Ratio 1.56, 95% Confidence Interval 1.28–1.90, P = 0 .0001), lower mortality rates (Odds Ratio 0.68, 95% Confidence Interval 0.55–0.84, P = 0 .0003), higher microbiological success rates (Odds Ratio 1.52, 95% Confidence Interval 1.10–2.11, P = 0.01) and decreasing the length of hospital stay (Mean Difference − 1.27, 95% Confidence Interval − 2.45—0.08, P = 0.04) in critically ill patients. Conclusion: Results from this study show that there is a significant level of evidence that clinical outcome in critically ill patients is improved in patients receiving piperacillin-tazobactam via continuous/prolonged infusion. However, more rigorous scientific studies in critically ill patients are warranted to reach a sufficient level of evidence and promote further implementation of C/PI as a dosing strategy

Cancer support & advice (CANadvice) m-health system for home monitoring and symptom management of patients receiving oral chemotherapy treatment

Introduction: Recent development in digital technology has raised the interest of many researchers in implementing technology in the domain of m-health to provide better service to patients. Capecitabine, an oral chemotherapeutic agent causes several side effects which need to be monitored to avoid severe health consequences in patients. Methodology: A multidisciplinary team of pharmacists, clinicians and developers, was assembled for the design and development of CANadvice system, a mobile android application for patients and a web interface for health care professionals to assist patients in monitoring chemotherapy side effects at home. The application provides real time medical or lifestyle advice to patients and sends alerts to health care professionals for intervention. Results and Discussion: Two prototypes were designed, implemented and evaluated. Interviews were carried out with 5 health care professionals to investigate the system's effectiveness. The results indicated in this paper recommend using such tool for monitoring side effects. Real time advice and the link to health care professionals were very well accepted