Pediatric blood & cancer
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Sep 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyFirst-day step-down to oral outpatient treatment versus continued standard treatment in children with cancer and low-risk fever in neutropenia. A randomized controlled trial within the multicenter SPOG 2003 FN study.
The standard treatment of fever in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (FN) includes emergency hospitalization and empirical intravenous antimicrobial therapy. This study determined if first-day step-down to oral outpatient treatment is not inferior to continued standard regarding safety and efficacy in children with low-risk FN. ⋯ In children with low-risk FN, the efficacy of first-day step-down to oral antimicrobial therapy with amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin in an outpatient setting was non-inferior to continued hospitalization and intravenous antimicrobial therapy. The safety of this procedure, however, was not assessable with sufficient power.
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Sep 2012
Identification of educational and infrastructural barriers to prompt antibiotic delivery in febrile neutropenia: a quality improvement initiative.
Antibiotic administration within 60 minutes of presentation for medical care may be used as a treatment target for febrile neutropenia (FN); however, anecdotal evidence suggests this target is often missed. Few studies have examined the prevalence or causes of delay. We describe the median time to antibiotic administration at our institution, predictors of delay, and barriers to prompt administration to inform quality improvement strategies. ⋯ Time to antibiotic administration exceeded 1 hour. The chart review and lean process suggested targets for educational and infrastructural interventions, including an ED pre-printed order sheet, targeted combined subspecialty education between emergency and hematology/oncology staff, and family education. A mixed methodology approach represents a model for improving process efficiency and meeting "best-practice" targets in medicine.