• Natalia A Díaz, Javier Farina, Liucó Zubeldía Brenner, Glenda Guzman, Sofía Lucini, Candela Serra, María Laura Negro, and María Florencia Gil.
• Servicio de Infectología, Hospital Cuenca Alta Néstor Kirchner, Cañuelas, Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail: diaznataliaanahi@gmail.com.
• Medicina (B Aires). 2024 Jan 1; 84 (4): 649655649-655.

IntroductionDelay in initiating appropriate antimicrobial therapy prolongs hospitalization, increases in-hospital mortality, and raises economic costs. Currently, the identification and susceptibility testing of bacteria in positive blood cultures require a considerable amount of time. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the BCID2 FilmArray® (FA) panel on the timing of appropriate antimicrobial therapy and potential antimicrobial costs.MethodsThis is a retrospective observational study focused on positive blood cultures in hospitalized patients. FA processing was conducted concurrently with routine sample processing. Changes in antibiotic treatments based on FA results were evaluated, and the reduction in antimicrobial therapy duration and associated cost savings were calculated.ResultsEighty-seven bacteremia episodes were analysed. In 42 (48%) of them antimicrobial therapy was de-escalated to narrower spectrum agents, while in 7 (8%) therapy was escalated to broader spectrum antimicrobials. Additionally, in 8 (9%) antimicrobials were switched without changing spectrum and in 30 (34%) no changes were made based on FA results. Antimicrobial changes were made 2.3 days faster than with routine sample processing resulting in calculated potential savings of US$ 7408.ConclusionThe implementation of FA facilitated a faster administration of appropriate antimicrobial therapy, leading to a reduction in the duration of broadspectrum empirical antimicrobial therapy and subsequent economic savings.

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