Clinical and investigative medicine. Médecine clinique et experimentale
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Comparative Study
Vancomycin use in 2 Ontario tertiary care hospitals: a survey.
Use of vancomycin is a risk factor for acquiring vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). To optimize the use of vancomycin in hospitals, the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) published recommendations in 1995. The objectives of this study were to determine the frequency, indications, and risk factors for inappropriate inpatient vancomycin prescriptions before and after publication of the HICPAC recommendations. ⋯ A high proportion of vancomycin prescriptions, surveyed before and after publication of the HICPAC recommendations on vancomycin use, were inappropriate. Excessive vancomycin use in surgical prophylaxis was an important factor. Our findings suggest that the use of standardized peri-operative order forms and of penicillin-allergy testing may help optimize vancomycin use in tertiary care hospitals.